Show Me How It Ends
by daughterofanubis
Summary: A truth remains unspoken. In the wake of a tragedy, one must cope with the loss of a friend. Another must cope with the loss of his humanity. In the end, both will discover that there is a thin line between immorality and immortality. SxJ
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, never will. But I can dream can't I?

**-Show Me How it Ends**-

Seto's POV 

Completely still. Just waiting, I guess. For what you ask? A second chance. A chance to tell my blonde angel that I'm still here; I'll always be here. It really is ironic, when you think about it. That I've become what he always considered evil, a being that tainted humanity, if you will. I did this for him, he must understand that. I can't remember how this all started, but I know I was protecting him. Please, forgive me for what I've done to you Katsuya. I promise I will make everything better.

Normal POV 

Jounnouchi Katsuya tucked his hands into his armpits, trying desperately to hold on to what little warmth he had left. Walking briskly through the park, silent tears coursed down his pale cheeks. "Why did you have to leave? WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME?" he suddenly screamed out. Frightening a few passerby's who quickly turned the other direction. "You stubborn ass," he continued, speaking to no one, "you had to go back for me, 'cause I couldn't get out. Ya know, it's my fault your dead. If I had told you about the rumors, you wouldn't have been shot, and I wouldn't be having this discussion. I didn't know Honda was going to snap like that. You know if I had, well… this all wouldn't have happened. And we'd all be one happy goddamned family. Well love makes you do stupid things I guess. Just so you know, I don't plan on leaving Mokie alone. I promise you I won't let anything happen to him. Thanks again for saving my life Kaiba, I owe you. I just wish I could return the favor."

Nubi: Good or bad? R&R


	2. Stage One: Exposure

Nubi: To all of my reviewers, THANK YOU! Huggles reviewers I have been inspired to continue! To answer a few questions, the first chapter was a teaser to see if anyone liked the idea. So this chapter is gong to be a sort of prologue to explain what's happened so far. Then I plan on continuing from there. I really am sorry if I confuse anyone. So this is the actual story beginning. Oh, before I forget, Jou believes that Seto's feelings for him are just in a close friend sense. This is what I get from listening to German metal bands.

Disclaimer: Aww, do I have to? I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. Damn-it.

Warnings: eventual SxJ, character death, sort of.

'thoughts'

"speech"

**-Show Me How It Ends-**

**Stage One: Exposure**

The morning bell rang, it's shrill cry only adding to Seto Kaiba's growing migraine. A blonde quickly sat next to the CEO.

"Rough night?" he whispered. "Three days and no sleep, yeah, rough night Jou." Jounnouchi snickered. Seto stared questioningly. "And what may I ask is so funny?" He looked up. "I'm just surprised that Mokuba hasn't slipped you some kind of sleeping pill yet." The brunette smiled. "That makes two of us."

"Class, come on, quiet down!" Sensei cried out. "Thank you, now, we'll be reviewing _Romeo and Juliet _so that we all will be prepared for the final next week. Are there any questions?"

It was at this point that Jou felt a crumpled piece of paper hit the back of his head. He quickly unfolded it, only to reveal a quickly written note from Yugi.

_Jou,_

_Have you or Kaiba seen Honda?_

_He's been freaking me out lately, and saying some really weird stuff._

_-Yugi_

Seto leaned over Jou's shoulder as he was reading the note. Snatching the paper away from the blonde, he quickly scrawled a _'No, we haven't seen him. What kind of weird stuff?' _And threw it back to the duelist. Not a minute later, another piece of paper landed on their desk.

_Psychotic weird stuff,_

_He said that he wished he could just blow everyone away._

_Listen, I talked to the principal, he said he'd look in to it. But I don't trust him that much, I'm pretty sure he thought it was just a prank. _

_I don't think that he's in his right mind anymore. Honda, I mean. Ever since Dartz, he's been out of touch, even when he's with us it's like his mind is somewhere else. I'm probably over reacting, but you have to admit this is a bit unsettling._

_-Yugi_

After a quick consult with Seto, It was Jou's turn to reply.

_That's definitely unsettling Yug', why do you bring this up now? _

_He's seemed fine lately._

Throwing back the note, they didn't get a reply until- "They found his parents dead this morning. That's why I'm worried now." Jou promptly fell off of his seat. "Gah! Yug' don't sneak up on me like that!" The blonde froze, letting his friend's words sink in.

"W-what?" Yugi stood solemnly. "That's what I said."

The classroom door opened suddenly. Honda appeared, a large backpack carried in his hands. "Gomen Nasai, Sensei. I missed my ride." The teacher didn't bat an eyelash. "Go ahead and take your seat Honda." She replied, not removing her eyes from the board.

"Gomen, Sensei, I really am." He replied, removing a pistol from his bag. He fired before anyone could even blink. Panicked screams filled the air as the first body hit the floor. Many people desperately tried to scramble to the door only to be gunned down by the psychotic student.

Yugi winced as a bullet whizzed past his ear. "S-s-shit…" Seto quickly pulled Jou and Yugi under the desk. Trying, and failing to keep his composure. Somewhere in the building, someone had pulled the fire alarm. Half the school was getting out, with no inkling of what was really happening.

As Honda turned his attention to a few students on the other side of the room, the boys saw it as an opportunity to make a break for the door.

Jou followed Seto and Yugi as they ran, the door only a few feet away. 'Almost there…' Then the pain hit. His muscles locked, and instead of getting closer to the door, he was about to get very friendly with the floor. He braced himself for the impact, but it never came. Two strong arms were holding him firmly. "Oh god, Katsuya, come on we have to move."

Seto, as compromising with Jou's injury as was possible, picked up the blonde and began to run as quickly as he could. Finally, they reached the only door leading outside on that side of the school.

Yugi just stood there, staring out into the freedom that was a pane of glass away.

"Yugi! What the hell are you waiting for!"

Yugi turned to face Kaiba. Laughing. Laughing the way someone who knows they're going to die does.

"It's locked."

The click of a gun being cocked brought their attention back to the situation at hand. Seto turned, gently leaning the blonde against a wall of lockers. "What have we done to cause you to want to hurt us, Honda. Tell us what we did and we'll fix it." Seto tried to reason.

"What makes you think that my problems lie with you?" He leveled his gun at Jounnouchi. "I'm here for one reason." His finger twitched in anticipation before moving to the trigger. "See you on the flip side Jou."

Seto flew to Honda's stoic form. Grabbing Honda's arms, he tried to pry the gun from his grasp. Seto wrestling him for the gun set off an alarm in Honda's head. 'Seto isn't going to let me go through with this…' He did the only thing he could in his twisted mind.

He fired.

Nubi: Evil cliffy. Review to find out what happens .


	3. Stage Two: Infection

Hello to all my readers. I apologize for not updating sooner, I've been rather busy. I promise all of you that I will try to update as soon as possible from now on. Thanks sooooooooo much to all of my reviewers! You guys are so sweet! I really am happy that you all enjoy my story. I'm going to take a different approach to this. Jou will not be the usual dumb blonde. I hate that so much! Sure, I like to see him goof off once in awhile, but I really like it when he's all thoughtful. : )

Disclaimer: If I owned it, I would be rich, not go to school, and there would be no need to write this stuff because we all would be watching it.

Spoilers: Honestly, I have no idea what everyone _doesn't _already know. Oh, and no.

Pairings: SxJ

Warnings: Shonen-ai, character death**, (for silverkitcat) **vampires

**-Show Me How It Ends-**

**Stage Two: Infection**

Seto released his hold on Honda's gun, backing away slowly.

Hiroto Honda stood silently, slowly glancing down at his blood soaked shirt. Then reality hit him like a ton of bricks. With all the people he had killed, he had never felt them, seen the pain in their eyes. Seto had fought him, tried to stop him. That wasn't supposed to happen. No one was to defy him. His act of revenge should have gone off without a hitch. This complicated things.

His first panicked thought was that he had shot himself. But there was no pain. He looked up at Seto. The brunet was shaking slightly, red quickly staining his beautiful white trench coat. He shuddered before his legs gave out beneath him.

"K…Kat…Katsu…ya…" Jou looked on horrified.

"Seto…God no…Seto!" He cried out, crawling to the CEO. Lifting the brunet's torso onto his lap, tears fell softly down his face. "C'mon Set' hang on!" Seto cracked a small smile. "Mutt, why are you crying?" He laughed softly "You're not the one that got shot."

"Enough!" Honda shouted. "You two can talk in Hell!" Once again, he aimed at Jounouchi.

His finger tightened around the trigger.

Shots echoed through the halls.

"Captain,"

"How many?"

"Excuse me, Sir?"

"How many dead?"

"Six Freshmen, two Sophomores, five Juniors, an English teacher, and one Senior. We found one kid that was left for dead; he was airlifted to the hospital about a half hour ago."

"Who was the Senior?"

The officer shuffled through his papers.

"Seto Kaiba."

**Morgue**

"There's no need for any autopsies, they all died from gunshot wounds. That's all there is too it." The mortician moved away from Seto Kaiba's corpse. "Poor kid," She pushed the body into one of the lockers. "I heard he had a little brother."

She quickly strode towards the exit, flipping the light switch. "God bless you all, young ones."

A pair of silver eyes stood out in the darkness.

"_Hmmm… brilliant, strong willed, courageous, enraged, and……in love………Perfect." _

White fangs glistened in the dim moonlight that slid through the windows.

"_It's never too late to seek revenge, cursed one. And I promise you'll have all the time you need."_

**Domino Hospital**

Katsuya's head was spinning. He could just barely make out Yugi's hair in the blurry room. "Yug'?"

"Jou!" Yugi leapt onto his best friend's hospital bed, enveloping Jou in a bone crushing hug. "You're up! How are you feeling? Are you hungry? Can I get you anything?"

Jou smiled softly. "I'm fine Yugi, thank you. Where are we?"

Yugi fell silent for a moment. "We're at the hospital Jou. Don't you remember?"

A doctor walked in, his white coat flaring behind him. Reminding Jou of…someone… someone important…

"Ah! I see that Mr. Jounouchi is awake! Mr. Mouto, if you could excuse us for a moment, I have a few tests to run."

"But-" The doctor ushered Yugi out of the room before sitting down next to Katsuya.

"Now Katsuya, are you feeling any pain, discomfort?"

Jou shifted under the man's gaze. Scrutinizing him, as if daring him to lie. Just then realizing how much his chest hurt when he breathed. "Yeah. My chest really hurts."

"That's going to be typical until your stitches heal." The doctor uttered blandly.

"STITCHES? WHY THE HELL DO I NEED STITCHES!" Jou screamed "WHAT HAPPENED TO ME!"

"Mr. Jounouchi, please calm down."

"NO! I WILL NOT CALM DOWN! WHAT HAPPENED TO M-" Jou froze, visions, no, memories, flashing before his eyes. The shooting. Honda. Seto.

"Where's Seto?"

Please review. If you don't I'll die. And no one wants that now do they?


	4. Stage Three: Quarantine

Chapter four is here! Yay! Reviewers, you guys are officially the nicest people on the planet! Seto is coming back so don't panic! Yukiko-Angel I'm sorry, Seto will not be coming back as a cat. But that would be pretty cool.

The vampires want Seto because he has such a strong connection to the shadow realm, which alone will make him stronger than any other vampire in existence.

Seto is going to be a type of vampire; he'll drink blood, but have different abilities than normal vampires. This is where I need you. Please read over the choices and decide what kind of vamp you want Seto to be.

Type A: Dragon. He has dragon wings, tail, ect. Mostly, he has the powers of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. He's still the normal Seto.

Plot: More of a happy ending thing. This one is the one to choose if you don't really want a lot of suspense and action.

Type B: Demonic. Full blown darkness. His only driving force is those close to him: Mokuba and Katsuya. He is fully in control of all other demons. Sort of like a despotic lord. He has demon wings, demon horns (not ugly horns, they just accent his bad-ass look), claws, spines, and slitted pupils. Before you go thinking he's like, Satan or something, he's evil as in showing no remorse for those who he believes have done wrong. Like when he killed his stepfather to protect his brother. Vigilante-ish. And yes, he's still really hot. Think Chrono from _Chrono Crusade._

Plot: Hot demons, Good vs. Evil, Seto with a sword, a couple together for eternity. Need I say more? Action / Adventure with vampy fluff.

Type C: Fallen Angel. He has black angel wings. Seto seems to have developed more of a conscience; he resents what he is and what he must do to survive. But every life he claims eats away at what is left of his humanity. He's starting to see Katsuya, not as a partner, but as his prey.

Plot: Not happy, either Seto will go insane, or Jou will end up dead. This would be really angsty. Pick this if you want a psychological thriller / horror type of story with a twisted ending.

**-Show Me How It Ends-**

**Stage Three: Quarantine**

"Where's Seto?"

The doctor looked puzzled for a moment. "OH! Kaiba right?"

Jou nodded bleakly. The doctor hesitated. And Jou knew very well that that was never a good sign. "Where is Seto?" he repeated, silently panicking. 'I'm okay, so Seto must be too, right? I mean I got more bullets than he did, and I'm still here.'

"Seto Kaiba…passed away a Yesterday evening. I'm sorry." He got up and briskly walked out of the room. Not daring to look back at the reaction on the boy's face.

Jou sat there in shock. Seto couldn't be dead. He was his closest friend next to Yugi, the only person who he could openly talk to about anything. Plus, Seto had saved his life. There was nothing more too it. If anything, he wanted to say thank you. He choked back a sob, thinking about how Mokuba would react to the news that his big brother was dead.

Yugi quietly peeked in through the door. Watching as Jou began to cry. He sighed, turning on his heel and walking towards the glass doors.

"It's unanimous," he muttered under his breath "Fate's a bitch."

**Docks**

"Damnit!" A bottle shattered against a crate. "I was so CLOSE!" A voice roared.

"Honda, Honda, Honda. Come on, settle down. Just a little mishap is all; you'll have plenty of other chances to get rid of that traitorous slime for us." A hooded man reasoned.

Honda turned rage filled eyes onto the figure. "Why do you want him dead anyway? It's not like he plans on ratting you out or anything. I've known him for years, he's never even mentioned being in a gang."

The man removed his hood. Revealing a head of shocking blood red hair (dyed) and bright emerald eyes. But it wasn't these features that made the boy stand out. The tattoo of a wolf, which started at his shoulder and ended near his nose, was what made him just a bit noticeable.

"We want to keep it that way. We've finally found him, and we're not going to make the same mistake we did last time."

**Ireland - Raven Croft Manor**

"_Wake up, young one." _

Seto opened a bleary eye, hissing in pain as light bombarded his vision. Pain shot through his every nerve, keeping him from moving. He tried to breath. Cringing as the air stung his lungs. 'not a good idea.'

"_Wake up, Seto Kaiba"_

"_Who?"_

"_It's time my fledgling. Spread your wings and fly."_

Seto dared to once again open his eyes. The pain subsiding enough for him to sit up. He looked up at the figure shrouded in moonlight, then down at himself.

"_Oh. My. God."_

**TBC**

Please tell me what you want. I live to serve.


	5. Stage Four: Transformation

I'm back, muahahahahaha! Well this is chapter 5. I got enough reviews to do demonic. It won't be exactly as I described it in the summary, but I will try to keep it as close as possible. If I had a scanner, I would put up the sketch I made of Seto for this. But I don't. And that sucks.

Disclaimer: WHAT? IS THERE SOMETHING YOU WANT ME TO DO!

**-Show Me How It Ends-**

**Stage Four: Transformation**

Jou stayed silent after Yugi left. The nurses had long since stopped coming into his room. They all had said that it hurt too much to watch him cry silently.

'He can't be gone…people like him don't die in shootings…'

A small smile made itself known as tears flooded his eyes once more.

'People like him die in front of their computers after they find out their stock is worthless.'

He turned his head as a quiet knock at the door brought him back to reality.

"Mr. Jounouchi?" the doctor said cautiously.

"That's my name." Jou mumbled. Wasn't it obvious that he wanted to be alone?

"Listen, Katsuya," He said as he made his way to the bed. "I know your still upset over your friend's death, but I need you to compose yourself long enough for the police to ask you some questions, do you understand?"

"I'm not three." Jou growled. "Just bring them in. The sooner I get this over with the better."

The doctor backed away from Jou, shocked by his sudden change in behavior. "Umm…all right then…Chief!"

A bulky man around forty entered the room, wearing a scowl that would have rivaled Seto's.

"Jounouchi Katsuya?"

"Yes! For the love of god, we've established this!" The blonde nearly yelled at the officer. "You're coming in here to talk to Jounouchi Katsuya! You wouldn't be here if that wasn't my name!"

The man didn't even flinch at Jou's outburst. And followed the rant with an,

"Are you done?"

Jou sighed, fingering his blanket absently. "Yeah, I guess I am. Sorry, I just really want to forget what happened. Not go over it again."

"That's understandable. After what you've been through, I'm not surprised at all." The man commented.

"First off, I want you to tell me everything that happened to you," Questioning eyes gazed at Katsuya from underneath bushy black eyebrows.

"Everything."

**Ravencroft Manor**

"_What have you done to me!" _Seto cried out, tracing the spines protruding from his shoulders.

"_Many would willingly die for what I have given you. But you seem displeased. Why?" _The vampire asked, not bothering to hide his confusion. _"I thought that you would do anything to have a second chance."_

Seto feebly raised himself off of the black silk sheets. Legs shaking as he placed his feet on the marble floor. He raised a hand to balance himself, only to find that his nails had become sharpened talons. He turned a pair of slitted eyes onto his captor.

"_Why do you think I would want this! Of all things, why would I want to be this! And what the hell do you mean by 'second chance'?" _He countered viciously.

The vampire gracefully walked to a vanity on the far side of the room. Reaching for a small glass resting on its surface.

"_If it matters any to you, my name is Matthew. And I think you know very well what I mean when I say 'second chance'. Your not about to abandon your little puppy," _He gazed back sadly at the brunette.

"_Are you?" _

Seto froze. Contemplating Matthew's words silently. Katsuya…

"**What makes you think that my problems lie with you?"**

If he was here, then…

"**I'm here for one reason."**

"_What did you do to him!" _Seto roared, lunging towards Matthew. _"If you hurt him, I swear to god-"_

Matthew started laughing.

"_God? You put your faith in god? Ha! He has forsaken you! As he has all of our kin! We are children of the night! We are the damned, the cursed, the forgotten, whatever you wish to call us, it doesn't matter! You no longer follow 'God', for you yourself are a god!" _He smirked. _"I have not harmed the one you call 'Katsuya'. But I know of those who wish it so. I have given you the chance to seek revenge on those who have caused you injustice! You have but to accept what you have become." _His voice softened to an almost whisper. _"Everything, everyone that you couldn't obtain in life, I now offer you in death."_

Matthew grabbed another glass from the table and slowly filled the two with a crimson liquid. He handed one glass to the brunette, who grasped it questioningly.

Matthew held his wine glass before Seto temptingly.

"_I offer you Immortality." _

_----------------------------_

Don't get me wrong, I'm Christian! Just so you all don't think I'm some kind of satanic…thing. Please review! My hands are old and weary, and reviews are the fountain of youth!


	6. Stage Five: Manifestation

Look! Chapter 5! It's right here! YAY! Okay everyone; I'm back with more…what's the word…SPUNK! That's it! Because I posted on a Tuesday, I'm guessing that most of you didn't get a chance to read chapter 4. But that's okay, because I have this chapter up now on a Saturday. So enjoy all my little readers! Engorge your minds on the fruit of my imagination!

**-Show Me How It Ends-**

**Chapter Five: Manifestation **

Two figures basked in the waning moonlight. Tapping their glasses before raising them to their lips. The smaller of the two shuddered in pleasure.

"_I told you that you would want it. I am pleased that you accepted this gift, my fledgling."_

Seto looked up at Matthew through euphoria laden eyes. Absently licking his lips in search for more of the ambrosia.

"_What is that?" _Seto whispered, reeling as the mixture increased his strength.

Matthew looked at him fondly, his smile revealing a pair of pearly fangs. He looked at his own glass, then back at Seto. _"This is what we live by. The blood of the living." _He paused to think for a moment, idly swirling the liquid in his cup._ "Though, come to think of it, you may very well feast on the blood of the damned. Your soul is dark enough." _Matthew answered.

Seto looked at the vampire, his cold sapphire eyes beginning to turn crimson.

"_Explain yourself, NOW." _He seethed. His aura crackling about him dangerously.

Matthew smirked. _"Oh, touchy aren't we?" _

He moved to seat himself in one of the finely upholstered leather chairs that were scattered around the room.

"_I need you to understand this. I chose you for a reason. Your stronger than most mortals I've seen. Your aura has a natural darkness about it. This darkness is…strength, if you will. Powerful, but it is also a weakness. I have witnessed your companions' control of Shadow Magic. You have this same power, but it remains untapped within you. You are perfect, in a sense, for being a vampire. Your only true ties to the world are your brother and…Katsuya. I need you and you need me. I can teach you, train you to become powerful, possibly more so than me. But for all of this I ask but one favor."_

Seto walked slowly towards the lounging man.

"_What favor?"_

_------------------------------_

**Domino Hospital**

"So, after that, Honda went berserk and started shooting everyone." Jou finished.

The Chief looked at Jou with a mixed expression on his face.

"Mr. Jounouchi, last night we received a call from the Mortuary. Do you know of anyone that held a particularly strong grudge against Mr. Kaiba?"

Jou nodded.

"Who?"

"Everyone. The military, Industrial Illusions, Otogi Ryuji, and apparently, Honda." He said quietly. "I know there's more, but those are the ones that I know of off the top of my head."

"Last night Seto Kaiba's body disappeared from the Domino City Morgue. The odd thing is that there are cameras all over that building and not one of them saw anything."

Jou choked on his own spit before spluttering,

"His body's missing? How is that possible? I thought that when you're dead, that's the end of it!" 'Could it be possible that he's alive?'

The older man shifted uncomfortably.

"It is highly unusual, but the mortician claimed that she locked the body in storage after examination. The same locker hadn't been tampered with at all. The body was just gone. Listen, I still have a few more questions for you, and then we can talk more about this. First, how long have you known Mr. Kaiba?"

Jou, though flustered, answered the questions truthfully.

"Three years."

"How long have you two been friends?"

"Seven Months."

"Were your siblings close?"

"Yes."

"Did Mr. Kaiba have any odd behaviors?"

"Yeah, he was always working."

"Okay. Finally, what was your relationship with Seto Kaiba?"

**TBC**

We had a poem contest at my school, and I entered three poems. One of which was a Yu-Gi-Oh! poem, but no ones gonna know that : ) The other one made my mom cry. I'm thinking about posting the poem later. Maybe. Please review and I'll love you forever!


	7. Stage Six: Realization

'Reality is just a figment of our ever tormented minds. But it is the realization of this figment that makes it reality.'

Confusing, no?

Disclaimer: There is no disclaimer. It's all in your head.

**-Show Me How It Ends-**

**Stage Six: Realization**

"_How can you ask that of me?" _Seto asked, frankly disturbed.

Matthew looked at him skeptically. Walking up next to Seto, he placed a hand firmly on the brunet's shoulder, pushing him down into a chair.

"_You are overwhelmed. Take the night to think it over, alright?" _Matthew turned away heading towards the door. Once he was beyond Seto's hearing, he mumbled _"In time you will come to accept what you are to me."_

Seto waited until Matthew's footsteps died away. 'There is no way in hell that I am going to be some slave to that vampiric filth! If he thinks that I am just going to be some toy for his sick amusement, he has another thing coming!'

Seto paced around the room, looking for anything to give him a clue where he was. He paused before a wall. Glancing casually at the white sheet covering what was underneath. He reached up and pulled the sheet away, revealing a large bookcase. He traced his fingers along the spines of many of the ancient leather-bound volumes.

'Practices of the Occult…Vampire Subjugation…Prophecies of the Ancient Texts…Blah, blah, blah…' Finally, the brunet's hand stopped on a title that interested him. _"Vampiric Change: Fledglings of Darkness." _Seto hesitantly pulled the book from the shelf, nearly dropping it when he saw the author's name.

Vlad Dracula. (1)

"_You have got to be kidding me."_

_

* * *

_

"Excuse me?" Jou sputtered, looking around frantically for some kind of camera.

The police chief glanced up from his report.

"I said, 'what was your relationship with Seto Kaiba?'"

Jou laughed nervously, "Oh, heh, I thought you said 'were you in a relationship with Seto Kaiba?' Thanks for clarifying. We were close friends. My sister and his brother were friends, so we decided to suck up our pride and get to know each other."

The man froze. "Suck up your pride? Did you two dislike each other?"

Jou smiled sadly, reflecting on all of the past arguments and fights that he and Seto had gotten into.

"Yeah, we hated each other."

"Really," The chief ran over the possibilities in his mind. This kid had been in gangs, his best friend was the shooter. He had past issues with Kaiba. Could he be related to Seto Kaiba's death? "Well, thank you Mr. Jounouchi for your time. I'll get back to you as soon as we know anything."

The man turned to leave, pulling out his cell phone. When he was out of earshot, he dialed and waited for the person he was calling to pick up.

"Lieutenant, I need you to search Jounouchi Katsuya's apartment."

**

* * *

**

"I hate cops." The hooded man said.

Honda followed closely behind him, remaining strangely silent.

"You know, every time something is going off without a hitch, they find some way to fuck it up. What do you think Hiroto? Should we fight back? Or should we make the victim the assailant?"

Honda stopped walking. Pondering his options as he fingered the gun in his hands.

"Let's make Jou suffer."

* * *

_Ring…Ring…Ring…Ri-_

"Hello?"

"Sir, we found the murder weapon at his apartment. It has Hiroto Honda's 'prints on it, but there is no mistake that he was there recently."

"What is Jounouchi's status?"

A shuffling of papers could be heard.

"He should be released this afternoon, Sir."

He hesitated. Wondering if he was doing the right thing.

"The minute those release forms are signed, I want him in handcuffs."

**TBC**

Oooo, what's gonna happen now?

(1) The man who inspired Bram Stroker's Dracula was a guy named Vlad Tepes, a notoriously violent and bloody ruler of Walachia, part of present day Romania. He was known for impaling his enemy's through the heart with wooden stakes and bathing in the blood of the slain after particularly grueling battles. He signed his letters 'Vlad Dracula', which can be loosely translated as 'Vlad, son of the Devil'.

Please Review. Please? I'M DESPERATE!


	8. Stage Seven: Justification

Chapter Seven is here, Yay! To everyone that reviewed thank you, you all said some really nice things.

**Shiko:** I am going to put Jou's dad in the story; it's cool that you think he shouldn't be a drunk. That's what I was planning to do anyway. I am hoping to get the Yami's and Mokuba in also, but at this point in time, I'm not sure when.

**Seto'swhiterose: **I LOVE you! You're so sweet! I plan on updating at least once a week from now on, probably on Friday nights or Saturday mornings. Oh! Before I forget, don't worry about Jou. Everything's gonna work out in the end ; )

**Nachzes Black-Rider: **I'm sorry you're PMS-ing. I hope you feel better! This isn't going to be some seriously dark fic, so no worries.

**Shadowy Fluffball: **Thanks for that, you're so nice!

**Shadow DarknessDragon: **I'm so psyched that you like my story. Honda's gonna get what's coming to him very shortly.

**Millennium Girl: **My plan isn't to make Seto damned. But you're just going to have to wait and see what I've got up my sleeves now aren't you?

**Hazel-Beka:** All in good time. I'm making Jou's dad a lawyer from New York. And a damn good one at that. So if Jou gets something serious put on him, it won't last long.

Disclaimer: crickets chirp

Warnings: Seto's got a potty mouth

**-Show Mw How It Ends-**

**Stage Seven: Justification**

Seto paced around the room, the constant tick of a clock somewhere in the room slowly eating away at his calm demeanor.

"_Stupid book, stupid Matthew, stupid fucking ME!"_

The brunet landed a quick punch to a nearby wall, to enraged to notice that his fist had gone right through the stone. He swiftly turned, walking back to the table where he had set down the ancient manuscript. He flew through the book, rereading the same page over and over.

"_This can't be true! I am not one of these…THINGS!"_

He held the book steady, his fingers ghosting across the wood-print of a demonic figure.

"**Fledglings**

The most important beings in the vampiric race are fledglings. Commonly referred to as Dark Sons or Daughters, fledglings are the ones who carry on a vampiric bloodline. Many clan heads will find that choosing the proper descendant takes time; centuries, if not millennia. Unlike the popular tales of old, vampires are not capable of changing as many humans as they are capable. Often, changing even one fledgling can result in the death of the vampire itself. This is the reason the vampiric race is slowly dying off. Because of the extremely long decisive period in the choice of a fledgling and the fact that the knowledge of our species has been revealed, has resulted in many elder vampires being hunted and killed before a choice can be made.

There is one exception to this all too common weakness. Shadow vampires. These creatures have seemingly been spawned completely from Egyptian myth. Though, thankfully, they do exist. But in extremely small numbers. As in one every hundred-thousand years. What I am trying to get across is that these 'shadow vampires' are so sickeningly powerful, they can either destroy or renew the entire species.

The traits of these vampires are as follows: Crimson iris', retractable elongated canines, tolerance to sunlight, enhanced strength, speed, and agility, as well as enhanced eyesight. While these traits are common among all vampires, the tolerance to sunlight is one major difference. Though they seem to enjoy the night more than day. Shadow vampires, over the course of their training and defeat of other vampires, will gain physical enhancements. Those enhancements are: retractable claws/talons, a prehensile tail (often tipped with a spike or blade), and spines that extend from edges of bones (spine, elbows, and shoulder blades). But the defining feature of shadow vampires are the wings they grow. As mentioned before, shadow vampires are the ones that can replenish the vampiric race. In being capable of this, they are the appointed 'monarchs' of the species. A true Monarch Shadow Vampire bears scaled, demonic wings. But this is only after they feed on the blood of the one that has changed them."

Seto reached up slowly, pausing as he reached the hard, stiff, protrusions extending from his shoulders.

"_Fuck."_

Jounouchi sat in the police station, idly fingering the leaden cuffs that encircled his wrists. Okay, he wasn't just idly fingering the cuffs. He was going over all the reasons why he was _wearing_ a pair of leaden cuffs in a police station.

Reason 1: That time he stole a gun to prove himself to his _ex_-gang.

Reason 2: The time he beat some kid to a bloody pulp when the aforementioned kid called his sister a slut.

Reason 3: Oh yeah, and that time when he jacked a car.

Well, that was all Jou could really recall. Each of those times, though, he had been caught and punished for the act. So, what else could he be here for? God, he had just been a victim in a school shooting that was perpetrated by his _ex_-best friend! Oh.

So that was why he was in trouble. But, he didn't do anything! Did he?

He remained silent for the next half hour, watching officers scurry across the room. Some had criminals. Some had paperwork. And many of them had dirty looks directed at Jou. Yay. More people thinking he was guilty.

"Katsuya!"

Jou's ears perked. He knew that voice. He knew that voice very well.

"Dad!"

Jou turned sharply, only to be enveloped in his father's arms. He looked up into warm honey-brown eyes. The same ones that he himself possessed.

"Dear God, I came as soon as I could." He said breathlessly. "You haven't said anything to them, have you? Well, it doesn't matter anyway. You're not guilty of anything, and I'm going to prove it!"

Jou looked up sadly at his father. "I think they think I killed Seto." He whispered quietly.

The older Jounouchi froze. He was the only one that knew about Katsuya's sexual preference. And his son's huge crush on Seto Kaiba.

"They think you were responsible for what happened? Oh, Katsuya."

The taller blonde pulled his only son closer to him as he started to cry. Rubbing gentle circles into Jou's back.

"We'll get this taken care of, okay? It will all be alright. You can come back with me to New York and we'll put all this behind us. Alright? What do you say?"

Jou nodded slowly, his face still buried in his dad's chest.

Of course, this was the exact moment that Police Chief Reilly Michaels decided to walk in. He nodded in acknowledgement of Mr. Jounouchi. Before turning a hardened glare onto the teen.

"Make yourself comfortable son," He practically snarled. "It's going to be a very long night."

Oh Dear God. It took me two weeks to get this out. And it's not even that long! I need to just skip to the end. 'Cause I know what's gonna happen then. Please review, I can't take much more of this.


	9. Stage Eight: Acclimation

Hello everyone. To my faithful reviewers, YOU GUYS ROCK! Okay, now that my little hello is out of the way, this is chapter eight. And this story will be finished! I swear on a stack of Seto/Jou fanfics! I hope you all enjoy this; it took a lot of work. More than usual because I had testing this week. Ugh.

I saw this awesome idea when reading another fic! The girl took a bunch of actors and put them in place of the characters to give you an idea of what they look like. So, I'm gonna do that now: ) If you guys think of anyone else that would be better, go on and tell me! Type these in on google images and look around a little. You'll see why I chose them.

Seto Kaiba: Jake Gyllenhaal

Jounouchi Katsuya: Ryan Reynolds or Seann William Scott

Matthew: Jude Law

Mokuba: Shawn Pyfrom

Jounouchi Shizuka: Natalie Portman

Nicholas: Colin Farrell

Yugi Mouto: Ryan Cabrera

Hiroto Honda: I'm going to leave him to your imagination, because the way I have portrayed him would put any decent actor to shame.

**-Show Me How It Ends-**

**Stage Eight: Acclimation**

Matthew paced around his bedroom, all the while idly swirling a glass of deep crimson in his hand. He was contemplating the brunet down the hall.

Seto Kaiba was just a nameless soldier for his short coming war with humanity. Of course, he needed initiative. And Matthew could make sure that Seto had _that._ In the form of one very attractive crush. Hmm…the blonde didn't seem _too_ important to the CEO. Maybe he could have him after Seto was disposed of.

The elder vampire set down his glass. Reaching for a cell phone placed neatly on the corner of his desk. He dialed quickly, fast enough to put our favorite blue-eyed hottie to shame.

"Nicholas, how is our corrupt little friend?"

**

* * *

**

After the hooded man closed his cell phone, he turned away. Idly tapping his nails against one of the numerous crates.

Honda lounged against a wall of wooden crates, running his fingers possessively across the side of a stained black Desert Eagle.

"Nick, I don't get it. Why do _you _hate Jou so much?"

Nicholas stopped tapping his fingers against the box.

"It's not so much that _I _hate Jou, it's more of a small detail in a larger plan kind of thing." He said, raising his hand trying to gesture his meaning. "I kind of work for someone else."

Honda looked back curiously. "I thought you were in his old gang."

Nick laughed whole-heartedly.

"I was." He said. His eyes shining with a mirth only nice memories could give.

Honda grew quiet for a moment before he asked once more,

"But still, _why_ do you hate Jou?"

Nicholas looked at his hands ashamedly; He noted that Nick wouldn't meet his own gaze.

Barely above a whisper, Nick answered Honda's question.

"I don't."

* * *

Katsuya rested his head in his hands. Between the screaming of profanity and accusations coming from the Chief's mouth, and the screaming of 'no evidence' and 'illegal holding' from his own father/lawyer, it was all quickly giving Jou one hell of a headache. He turned, looking out the window behind him, trying as hard as he could to block out the voices before him. 

'God Set, do you have any idea how much trouble you've gotten me into? I'm so friggen' sorry for everything. I hope that wherever you are now, you know that I love you. I'll always love you, no matter what.'

"MR. JOUNOUCHI I SUGGEST THAT YOU CALM YOURSELF OR I WILL HAVE YOU ESCORTED FROM THIS BUILDING!"

"FINE! AND WHILE I'M LEAVING, I'LL JUST TAKE MY SON AS WELL!"

Jou felt a strong hand firmly grip his shoulder, ripping him out of his chair. His father lead him towards the exit doors. Purposely ignoring the inhuman screeching coming from the chief's office.

"Jou, I am so sorry you had to hear all that. You know they have no evidence to convict you of anything, so you'll be fine." He said, hailing a cab as he strode quickly away from the station.

Jou stayed quiet as he entered the car. After Mr. Jounouchi told the cabbie their destination, a 'Domino Airport', Jou turned to his father. Eyes gazing questioningly as he asked fearfully,

"You think I did it, don't you?"

The lawyer turned to his son. "No, I don't think you had anything to do with it. Those imbeciles in blue are just trying to compensate for not having caught Honda." He smiled slightly, "We're going back home kid. Do you want to say goodbye to your friends?"

Jou gazed out the car window thoughtfully.

"No. No more sad memories. It's time to start over."

'Goodbye Seto.'

**

* * *

**

"_I have to get out of here!" _

Seto ran back and forth across the room, desperately trying to calm himself as he looked for an alternative exit. You know, rather than the room's only door. Thanks to Seto's new found abilities, he had somehow heard everything that Matthew had been thinking. This, needless to say, was just a bit unnerving.

"_Like hell I'll let that filthy son of a bitch get his hands on MY puppy!" _He growled as his relentless search led him to an enormous bay window. He looked skeptically at the sheer drop beyond the glass. Seto let his gaze travel to the large grandfather clock, ticking absently. 5:28 a.m.

"_Well, it's not like I haven't jumped off a cliff before."_

The brunet took one last look at the clock, then at the burgeoning sunrise to the East. He unlatched the window's lock and jumped up onto the sill.

"_See ya Matt, it was nice knowing that I was going to be your little henchman, but I've got more important things to do."_

Seto lunged forward, disappearing as he descended into the fog.

* * *

Yay! That was almost 1000 words! Go me! The next chapter is done so I'll upload it soon! Please review! 


	10. Stage Nine: Relocation

Jonathan Rhys Meyers does make a very convincing Seto, fanficlunatic234, thanks for that! I typed him in and found this pic that I think really fits the story. The picture itself may not look a whole lot like Seto, but it still rocks. Oh, thats it with added spaces so it will show up.

http /www .blank-smile .org /scans /male /jrm4 .jpg

Disclaimer: You know the drill.

Warnings: Not really.

**-Show Me How It Ends-**

**Stage Nine: Relocation**

'_Flight 8173 from Domino to New York now arriving at Gate 3'_

Jou clutched his suitcase to him tightly. 'Dad, please don't let this be a mistake.'

"Joey!"

Jou paused. He knew that when he was in the U.S. his name was Joey Wheeler. But his dad still called him Katsuya. And his mom just didn't call him anything at all. So, the person that had called him Joey had to be-

"Shizuka!"

The young girl pounced on the blonde, giggling happily.

"Joey, you're here! I thought dad was just kidding, but you're really here!"

Jou smiled down at his little sister kindly. Wrapping his lanky arms around her gently.

"Yeah Shizuka, I'm here. Permanently."

Shizuka looked up at Jou, eyes shining with ecstasy.

"No lie?"

"No lie."

She squealed in delight. Only clutching him tighter.

"Maybe, maybe we can even be a real family again!"

Katsuya froze, the image of Mokuba sobbing in his room flashing before his eyes.

Joey clenched his amber orbs shut.

"Damn." He muttered, rubbing them frantically.

Shizuka stood next to him, hesitant of what to do next.

"Joey?" She said tentatively.

"I'm fine sis, I'm fine. Let's just go find dad and head home, okay?" Joey replied dispassionately.

"If you say so."

The siblings walked towards customs together. Jou still secretly reeling from his little revelation.

'Oh god.'

* * *

"_Note to self: don't jump off of cliffs anymore."_

Seto shook his head to the side, getting as much water out of his hair as possible. He walked slowly along the black-sanded beach until he reached a group of people huddled around a sign. He quickly buttoned up his shirt, hiding the spikes that pierced his shoulders. Seto cleared his throat, trying to get his voice to sound somewhat normal.

"Excuse me, can any of you tell me where I am?" Said the very hoarse CEO.

One woman pulled away from the group, speaking in a foreign tongue the brunet couldn't immediately place.

He craned his neck, finally getting a good look at the sign.

"_Loch Ness. How quaint." _(I know I said Ireland earlier, but I figured in Scotland they may be just a bit more superstitious, thanks to Nessie. No offense to any Scottish peoples.)

"Daemon!" The woman screeched.

"_Oh shit."_

With that, Seto took off running towards the town. He didn't stop until he reached a building that somewhat resembled an airport. Entering the structure, the CEO rapidly found a reception desk.

"_I need a plane. Now!"_

The young woman sat trembling.

"Ye-ye-yes s-s-sir." She stuttered, obviously terrified.

Seto paused, feeling almost guilty for the way he had yelled at her.

Who says death doesn't do wonders for a guy's ethics?

"_Look, I'm sorry. Please I need to get to Domino, Japan as soon as possible. If need be, I can just buy a plane from you."_ He said, pulling out a damp wallet from his back pocket. The girl had calmed down somewhat, but was still walking on eggshells.

"Sir," she said anxiously ", As much as I would like to help you, the closest place you'd be able to get a flight to Japan is Edinburgh."

Seto cursed under his breath. Once again he had to force himself to calm down.

"_Like I said before, if you have a plane, I can just buy it from you. How much?"_

The girl began shuffling through her papers rapidly. Mumbling quietly '…460,000…210,000…390,000…'

Seto grabbed a pen from the girl's desk, scrawling a few (ha, ha) numbers onto a check.

"_Just give me the fastest thing you've got." _The brunet said, shoving the paper in front of her.

Needless to say, she was speechless.

Before Seto knew it, he was piloting a small aircraft to Domino. And according to the authoress, making great time.

"_I'm coming Jou."_

* * *

You came, you saw, and maybe you'll leave a review. 

'Cause that's what Jou would do. You know, if he was a fan of 'Seto turning into a really hot vampire,' stories.

Short but sweet. Please review!


	11. Stage Ten: Hallucination

Thanks to all my reviewers! You all get a fictitious piece of pie for putting up with that crappy chapter. By the way, I love you all. It just gets me right here puts fist up to heart that you have stuck with me this far.

**Special thanks to:**

**Dude**: Thank you!

**Nachzes Black-Rider**: Let's hope he can!

**Wondergal Jubilee and Virgo**: I kind of wanted Seto to , like, teleport or something, but I thought that would be a bit much.

**Miguels-Lover**: I confused myself. In the third chapter, I said that Seto was in this manor in Ireland. I moved it to Scotland because…well…I'm not really sure why. But I needed a lake for Seto to jump into, and Loch Ness came to mind. You're Scottish! That is so cool!

**Hazel-Beka**: You make me smile : )

**Shadow DarknessDragon**: He might miss Jou. You never know…

**anaraz**: Here I am.

**Red Eyes White Dragon**: I'd like to thank the Academy…

**Seto'swhiterose**: I wait for your reviews. You always make me want to continue! Mokuba will be fine, I assure you. Just wait for some of the twists I've got in store!

Listen to Drowning Pool's song _Bodies _while reading this chapter. It's trippy.

* * *

**-Show Me How It Ends-**

**Stage Ten: Hallucination

* * *

**

**New York**

A deafening crash echoed through the empty apartment. The shattered remnants of what was a vase were scattered across the wood floor.

"Make It STOP!"

Jou backed up against a wall. Hard. He wrapped a pair of toned arms around his slim frame. "please…" The blonde let his tears flow freely, slowly shaking his head from side to side. "make it stop." he whispered, before falling into a blissful unconsciousness.

**Domino**

"_What do you mean he's gone!"_ Seto roared, shoving the thug into a brick wall. The lowlife shook uncontrollably.

"Listen dude, I don't want any trouble! All I know is his dad got 'im off the hook for that Seto Kaiba's murder!"

"_Murder?" _Seto questioned lightly to himself. _"But Honda killed me…not Jou…"_

The thug stared blankly. "You mean _you're _Seto Kaiba? But you're supposed to be dead. I mean that Jounouchi guy like shot you-"

Seto slammed the man back into the wall once more, causing black spots to appear before his eyes.

"_SHUT UP! You have no idea what you are talking about! Now once more, where are Jounouchi Katsuya and Hiroto Honda?" _Seto growled menacingly.

"I only know that Jounouchi is with his dad. Honest! But Honda's been seen with some members of Jou's old gang. That's all I know honest!"

Seto smirked, a primal urge making itself known within him. His rational thoughts being overrun with those of a much darker nature. A sinister crimson began to flood his sapphire irises.

"_You have helped me a great deal, maggot," _Seto leaned in next to the man's ear. And whispered amusedly, _"But you have served your purpose."_

"What are you-AHHHH!" he screeched as Seto sank a pair of ivory fangs into his _prey's_ neck. Eventually the man stopped squirming. Well, living all together actually. The brunet let the pale corpse sink to the concrete beneath him. He laughed insanely.

"_I could get used to this."_

Seto thought over the information given to him by the mag- _thug. _Then looked down at his blood encrusted clothing.

"_Time for a warm shower, a new wardrobe, and to search for my pup."

* * *

_

I am sorry that It's soooooo short! We have finals and my writing has been seriously stifled because of it! I just wanted to tell you in advance that I'm going to D.C. on the 30th, so I won't be able to update from then through June 15th . God guys I am so sorry. I'll try to get a fairly lengthy chapter out before then.

Please Reveiw.


	12. Stage Eleven: Deviation

This is it. The big chapter in which a lot of stuff comes together. I want to thank all my reviewers for their support and a special thanks goes out to all of those super nice Seto/Jou fans that have stuck with me this far : ) I love you guys.

**-Show Me How It Ends-**

**Stage Eleven: Deviation**

"_Mokuba…Mokie…come out, come out wherever you are…for the love of god Mokuba, I'm not that scary."_

A slight whimper came from behind the coat closet's door. A meek voice following soon after. "You're supposed to be dead Seto."

A slight smile graced the lips of the duelist turned vampire. Sadly, the kind gesture came across as sinister to the young boy.

"_So I've heard. Listen, I'm not 'dead', think…reborn."_

"Call me insane, but you can't be wrong about death. How am I supposed to know that you're my big brother? You could just be someone impersonating him."

Seto scoffed. "_You've put a lot of thought into this, haven't you?"_

"Don't act like it hasn't happened before. Okay, you know what? I'll believe you if you tell me one thing that _only _Seto would know."

"_Just one?"_

"Just one."

"_I am madly in love with Jounouchi Katsuya."_

A pregnant pause followed the statement.

"Seto?"

"_Hey Mokie."_

The black haired boy pounced on the teen, hugging him tightly as he cried.

"_Oh, Mokuba, it's okay. It's all okay…" _Seto said softly, rubbing small circles into his brother's back.

Mokuba sniffled, and managed to cry out between sobs, "But how are you here! I mean you're dead! So how are you here!"

"_It's a long story Mokuba, one best left to another day. For now little brother, I need your help."_

Mokuba pulled back from where his head rested comfortably at the junction between the Brunet's neck and shoulder. He sniffed cutely.

"What is it?"

"_I need to find Katsuya." _

* * *

**New York**

A blonde sat on the floor of the padded room. Eyes staring blankly as he silently rocked back and forth. A small reflective window was placed at the far wall of the area. Unbeknownst to the said occupant, two doctors and a well dressed man stood on the viewing side.

"What's wrong with him?" The doctors shuffled hesitantly. "Well?"

A man that had to be in his early fifties stepped forward, meeting the older Jounouchi's gaze.

"It's not uncommon," he began "for people to be severely traumatized by event that have taken place. Your son was in a shooting. Not only did he witness his classmate's deaths, but his closest friend died in his arms. We," he motioned to the younger female that stood beside him. "Believe that he has a severe case of PTSD."

The lawyer blinked. "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?"

"Unfortunately yes. Until we can establish what trigger's reactions like this, we highly recommend you keep him in close contact with yourself at all times and try to keep him away from people or things that may remind him of the event itself."

"What exactly is happening to him?"

The older man pushed his glasses farther up the bridge of his nose.

"It appears as if he had a flashback, then locked inside himself."

"Which means…?"

"His body is aware and functioning normally, but his conscious mind won't acknowledge any sights or sounds. As if he wants to get away from everything. He should return to normal fairly soon."

"Fairly soon? Can't you do anything? I am paying you to help him, not tell me that I have to wait this out." The blonde said, his voice rising to a dangerous tone. "Help him or so help me God, I will make sure you can't get a decent job in this entire state ever again!" He lowered his voice to a chillingly calm whisper. "Now tell me _Doctors_, what can we do?"

The young woman stepped forward, obviously shaken from the man's outburst.

"Y-you need to keep him in confinement. After he's calmed down enough, you have to take him to a therapist or better yet a hypnotist. If you can, make him forget the entire thing."

"Now that's the answer I was looking for. I have to make him forget? He's going to notice if there's a gap in his memory."

The woman thought for a moment, idly tapping her clipboard.

"I think I know what the trigger is." She stated simply. "Mr. Wheeler, you informed us that your son had feelings for Seto Kaiba. Correct?" When he nodded she continued. "You also said he informed you that he felt this way after the Battle City Tournament. Well, just erase his memories up until the end of Battle City. Then he'll hate Seto and he won't be affected this way any more."

Mr. Wheeler thought over the options in his head. It was his duty as a father to protect his son from things like this. Making Jou forget Seto would help him start over. It would also stop the pain that the lawyer knew was yet to come. But could he really make his son forget such an important time in his life? No, he couldn't. Seto Kaiba, even with all the shit he had put Jou through, had been a big part of his son's life.

"Are there any other options?"

* * *

A blonde sat silently, listening to the entire conversation. He didn't wipe away the tears that rolled gently down his cheeks.

"Thanks dad…"

* * *

Seto was typing away ardently, occasionally questioning Mokuba about stray glitches, viruses and passwords that had mysteriously appeared or been changed in his perfect system.

"_Alright…let's see…Mokuba, can you explain why there are two files on Jou?"_

The boy looked up suddenly. The question had caught him somewhat off guard.

"Umm…Shizuka told me that they have American names and Japanese names. Like, her name in the U.S. is Serenity Wheeler, not Jounouchi Shizuka."

Seto thought that over a moment.

"_So, I should probably look under his American name then…hmm, Joseph Wheeler…Joey…cute, it fits him... his father does well, better than I expected, considering that I don't know anything about Jou's family…"_

"What?" Mokuba asked.

"_Apparently Mr. Wheeler is a lawyer. And a good one at that, he's one of the best in the country. They live in a penthouse in Manhattan. Well, I guess I'm going to New York."_

Mokuba practically fell off his chair.

"You can't do that! I mean look at you! Someone's going to notice a deceased CEO walking around. Besides, you've got freakin' spikes coming out of your back. If someone doesn't notice the whole dead thing, they're gonna notice those."

Seto sighed. _"Mokuba, we both know your right, but I have to do this. I have to show Katsuya that I'm fine. Besides, the lowlife scum that made me like this knows about him. I can't risk anything happening."_

Mokuba hunched his shoulders in defeat. Beginning to pout.

"_Uh, Uh. No, that isn't going to work."_

"But you could get hurt." The black haired boy whined.

Seto picked up a letter opener from the side of his desk as Mokuba watched bewilderedly. He examined the blade for a moment before thrusting it into his chest. Mokuba promptly screamed.

"_I'm pretty much dead, Mokie'" he said pulling the blade out of his chest. "I can't get hurt. Well, that is, to the extent of my knowledge."_

The boy accepted the answer, but he didn't like it. Not one bit.

A doorbell rang out, disrupting the calm atmosphere of the room. Mokuba muttered an 'I'll get it' and left. A few minutes later he returned, carrying a dry-cleaning bag in his hands.

"You know that one coat you were having made? Well here it is."

Seto grabbed the bag from his brother and laid it across his desk. He unzipped it quickly, a devilish smirk coming upon his lips as he viewed the contents. Mokuba looked curiously over Seto's shoulder.

"That looks like something a vampire would wear."

"_I guess its perfect then, isn't it?"_

The coat looked similar to the CEO's white trench coat, but it couldn't have been more different. It was made of a jet black cloth, where there had been rounded metal clasps on the shoulders, there were now silver spikes. The collar could extend up to cover the bottom half of his face. The back of the coat had a few criss-crossing chains hanging from it, and the bottom half of the coat flared out even more so than that of his others.

"_This is perfect."_

_

* * *

_

Ha Ha! I got out a chapter! Can you believe this was four and a half pages? I may get out one more chapter before I leave, but that will only happen if I get a ton of reviews. Love ya all! R&R please!


	13. Stage Twelve: Broken

I'm back from D.C! With chapter 12! Wooo! Okay, my reviewers, very sweet! Hazel-Beka, stay with me here girl, I was reading FAKE and Randy has Dee use his Japanese name, even though he's only half Japanese. I figured I might be able to pull off the same thing. That is your answer.

But now, I have decided to just stick with Jou's original name. Because your question seriously made me reconsider what I wrote. Not that it's a bad thing.

P.S. If I had a scanner, I would totally put up the trench coat. I'm sorry I couldn't describe it any better, I had this perfect picture of it in my head, getting it onto paper was a different story.

For this chapter, I recommend Kelly Clarkson's 'Behind These Hazel Eyes'. Because that's what I'm currently listening to as I write this. It really fits Seto and Jou's moods at this time. It's weird; the song totally fits Seto's vampirism.

**-Show Me How It Ends-**

**Stage Twelve: Broken**

Seto sat quietly, one leg draped over the other, fingers laced pensively. He looked over at his brother, who was sleeping soundly. Innocently. The brunet glanced down at his hands, sadly noting the claws that had replaced his nails.

Seto reached for a phone mounted next to his seat. _"How long till arrival?" _He asked coldly.

A static hiss came before a male voice answered. "About eight hours Mr. Kaiba. I suggest you get comfortable, perhaps get some sleep, sir."

The vampire sighed dejectedly. _"I'll think about it, thanks."_

Seto returned to his seat, glancing out his window at the ocean below.

"_What if he doesn't feel the same? What if this is all just a big mistake?" _He whispered. _"Even if he does feel the same as I do," _He raised a pale hand to cover his still heart. _"He could never accept me this way. I can barely stand myself, so how could he love me like this? It's only going to get worse according to that book," _He mused sadly, _"I don't want to hurt you anymore Katsuya."_

A droplet strayed away from his eye. The brunet reached up to wipe it away, but he stopped. At that moment the scent of blood had reached his nose. He stood up and began walking to the bathroom, paying no heed to tears that now streamed down his cheeks.

He reached the small room and reached for a tissue to wipe away the evidence of his emotions. He paused once more, realizing gradually that he hadn't turned the light on. He flipped the switch and stared incredulously at his reflection.

Red droplets fell onto the white marble sink. He wasn't crying tears.

He was crying blood.

**

* * *

**

"Shizuka…"

The girl looked up guiltily.

"Yes, big brother who I love with all my heart?" She stated nervously.

"Have you been in my room?" Jou asked jadedly.

Shizuka shifted anxiously, keeping her gaze on the floor.

"I just wanted to know what's bothering you and if maybe I could help, I'm sorry Katsuya." She whispered quietly.

Jou's gaze softened, he moved to put his arms around the girl in an apologetic hug.

"It's okay sis. I know you didn't mean anything by it, but please don't go around looking in my personal stuff, okay?"

She nodded quickly before running off. The blond sighed tiredly, beginning to pace towards his room. "I need to call Mokuba, at least make sure he's alright…" he flopped onto his bed and reached for his own cell phone. He quickly dialed the number he had practically memorized, The Kaiba Mansion. He cursed when he was forwarded through to the answering machine. The blonde abruptly flipped shut the phone, thinking a moment before re-opening it. He went into his contacts list, searching for Mokuba's cell number. He pressed send and waited for the younger Kaiba to pick up.

**

* * *

**

Seto finished wiping the blood from his eyes, trying to regain some of his wits after the unnerving incident. He dampened a cloth and ran it over his face, scrubbing his cheeks free of any excess blood.

_Ring…Ring…Ring…Ring…_

"_What the hell…?" _Seto muttered, pulling the towel away and making his way back to his seat, following the noise.

_Ring…Ring…Ring…Ring…_

He stood before Mokuba, finally establishing that the sound was coming from the boy's cell phone. Seto gently reached into his brother's pocket, grasping the phone. He pulled it out quickly and answered it.

"_Seto Kaiba speaking."_

* * *

Read and review! Why? Because I said so! Muwahahahaha! I love sugar. 


	14. Stage Thirteen: Confusion

Hello! This is chapter 13. Man, I can't believe I got this far! But I've have to tell you, it feels great to get some of this stuff out of my head and on to paper! To all of my loyal reviewers, thank you all so much! I feel very honored to have many great people and writers reading this! Sorry! Now I'm getting all teary! _sniff_

Oh, yeah! Some people asked how my trip to D.C. was. It was neat, we stayed at the Air Force base, and sure, all we did was go to museums, but that was okay! I can't believe how many trees are there! Just so all of you know, I live in Montana. BIG difference. And no, I don't have horses. But my aunt does.

I was wondering, since you are all so nice, maybe some of you could be my friends. ( I know how corny that sounds.) If you're interested, my e-mail address is **kawaii (underscore) writer (at sign)hotmail .com**(I know it looks weird, but the computer keeps erasing my address, so just remove the spaces and there ya go.) Please! I'm all alone! _puppy-dog eyes_

Oh, I got an anonymous e-mail from a, carrie mosman, if anyone can tell me her e-mail address or if she is reading this, I would love to get back to you.

ON WITH THE CHAPTER!

**-Show Me How It Ends-**

**Stage Thirteen: Confusion**

"_Hello? Who is this?"_

A clatter of plastic hitting a hard surface reached Seto's ear, followed not long after by a heavy _thump._

"_Well, that was odd…" _Seto hung up the phone and returned to his seat. He placed the phone onto a close table before attempting to fall asleep, or something like it. Finally, the brunet was able to fall into a blissful, dreamless, darkness.

**

* * *

**

"Jou! Jou! WAKE UP BIG BROTHER!"

_**SMACK!**_

"NO! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!"

"Snap" _**SMACK** _"out," _**SMACK** _"of" _**SMACK** _"It!" _**SMACK!**_

"Jesus Shizuka! What the hell!"

"Oh my god Jou!" The girl cried, obviously shaken. "You completely, like, passed out! And…I couldn't get you to wake up!"

Katsuya, his mind completely blank of the events that had recently transpired, proceeded to calmly tell his sister that he was fine.

"Yeah, that's the definition of unconsciousness! And what the hell was with the fricking slaps!"

Shizuka, needless to say, was on the verge of tears. "Well, I mean, you were kind-of thrashing around and crying stuff out."

Jou was becoming impatient. "Shizuka, what could possibly bother me enough that I would faint and cry out random shit like-"

"No, you're supposed to be dead? Or, please don't leave me again? 'Suya, what happened? You know, to make you freak out like that? Katsuya?"

The blonde stood frozen, deaf to his sister's questioning. But something did echo throughout his mind.

'_Seto Kaiba speaking.'_

A dazed smile made its way across Jou's face. "Heh…"

Shizuka watched in amazement as her brother started laughing insanely.

"Katsuya?"

Jou's laughs eventually subsided into crazed giggles.

"He's alive…"

It was at this point that the blond became reacquainted with the floor.

* * *

"Seto…Seto…" 

The brunet opened a bleary eye, only to see a hideous, black…oh, wait…yeah, it was just Mokuba.

"_Oh, hey Mokuba."_ The vampire yawned dramatically, trying to make his brother feel bad for waking him up. _"What's going on?"_

The boy eyed his brother suspiciously before holding up his phone.

"Did you use this?"

Seto stared blankly.

"_Someone called and I answered."_

"Seto, who called?"

"_How am I supposed to know? The person hung up."_

"I'm supposed to believe that. The person called, you answered, and they hung up? Why would they...Oh…"

"_Oh, what?"_

"Seto, you answered the phone."

"_You're point is?"_

"This whole vampire thing has messed with your head Seto! Are you honestly that thick?"

"_What did I do that was so bad Mokuba?"_

"You answered the phone Seto, think about it. 6 billion peoplebelieveyou're dead. For all we know, whoever called was a reporter!"

Seto scowled darkly. _"Well you've certainly developed an attitude in my short absence. Why don't you just check caller ID instead of berating me for being an exhausted vampire."_

Mokuba cringed at the word vampire. "I…I didn't mean it like that."

Seto nodded wearily. "It's alright Mokie. Just check the call list, okay?"

Mokuba flipped open the phone and hit a few buttons.

"Oh boy…"

Seto leaned forward. _"What?"_

Mokuba hesitated.

"_Who was it?"_

"Seto…It was Jou."

* * *

Oooo…the truth is out. Just so you all don't get bored, I'm going to have Seto meet up with Jou somewhere in the next two chapters, Matthew makes a threatening appearance and Seto's gonna bloody his hands when Honda shows up with his shady new friend Nick. 

Ooodles of love to you all! All of you peoples that have been reading my story but not reviewing, could you please review? I would like to know what keeps you interested and coming back! Just say what you like or what you'd like to see and I'll try to put it in!

Review for more!


	15. Stage Fourteen: Redemption

This is chapter 14 peoples. This is going to be long enough to make up for the shortness of my last few chapters. Now for notes and thank you stuff! Oh I want to let you all know, so you don't hate me later on, I am going to kill off Nick. I have no idea what I was trying to accomplish with him, but he has to die courtesy of my mild case of writer's block. Thank You.

Warning: Gore and light swearing.

All of these review comments are based solely on the fact that I had received the following reviews at 9:20 a.m. Mountain Time on June 30, 2005. If I left anyone out, I'm sorry. : (

**Moonlit-leaf** – I have never even heard of that book, so I looked it up. And now I want to read it : ) The resemblance is kinda similar isn't it?

**Misoka **– You are very sweet.

**Red Eyes White Dragon** – Thank you so very much for being the first person to e-mail me about being my friend! This chapter is dedicated to you, Hazel-Beka, and Miguels-Lover my new online allies! Throws black trench coats at REWD, Hazel-Beka and Miguels-Lover

**Hazel-Beka** – Morbid am I? Girl, you ain't seen nothin' yet! Like I said in the comments above you, this chap is dedicated to you and REWD and M-L.

**Anaraz** – You are going to get your wish!

**dragonlady222 – **Here's an update!

**Miguels-Lover – **I would be very happy if you put me on your contacts list! I'll put you in mine if you e-mail me. I'll be honest, I forget really easily so please mail me if you get a chance. Jou's gonna be doing a lot more than just hearing Seto's voice!

**Amelia Sjoquist – **I'm glad that you enjoy my story. Vampires rock.

**Thunderstorm101 – **If my story is as strange as your review, then I guess we're good to go!

**Nachzes Black-Rider – **How cruel! You dare laugh at Jou's mental misfortune! I am shocked and appalled………well…it was pretty funny.

**LIA – **Someone has had a lot of sugar. You'll see!

**Green Phantom Queen – **It's not going to be easy for anyone.

**Shadow DarknessDragon – **Honda's gonna die. It's a good thing.

On with the chapter! …Wooo. Man, now I'm sleepy.

**Show Me How It Ends**

**-Stage Fourteen: Redemption-**

"Seto has to be alive Shizuka! Don't you get it? He answered the phone!"

Shizuka sat quietly. After her older brother had passed out again, she had called her father. Sure, she left out the details of the entire event leading to the unconsciousness, but hey, who could blame her? Shizuka knew what would happen if her dad knew that Jou was now hearing voices. And she didn't want her big brother in some nut house. No, this was gonna be kept quiet if she had anything to do with it.

"Jou…you didn't hear Seto. Seto is dead. Dead people don't answer phones."

"No! It was him I swear! I would know his voice anywhere!"

"Jou! He's dead! Would you get over it! Move on with your life! Because god knows the rest of us have!" she screamed. Yes, it was harsh. But someone needed to get through to him.

Jou just stared as his sister slammed the door shut as she left.

"Seto is alive. And I don't want to let it go." He whispered

* * *

"Mr. Kaiba?" The pilot crackled over the intercom. 

"_What is it?"_

"We will be arriving at the JFK International Airport in about 15 minutes."

Seto sighed. _"Finally. Oh, thank you."_

The brunet once again began to contemplate his situation. Thanks to that bastard Honda, he had been killed and Jou had been hurt. Thanks to an arrogant vampire named Matthew, Seto was now damned. And thanks to that phone call, Jou's probably in a psych ward. Well, doesn't his life just suck?

Mokuba watched his brother silently. Now it was his turn to asses the events of the last week. Seto had been killed. Seto had come back as a vampire. Seto had come back as a freaky vampire that had spikes coming out of him. Now he was following the swish back and forth of a reptilian tail with his gaze. Yeah, that's right. Seto had a tail.

Unbeknownst to the black haired boy, Seto had taken notice of his staring.

"_Kinda cool isn't it?"_

Mokuba snapped out of his funk. "Huh?"

"_My tail. Unexpected, but it kind of ties together the whole dragon deck with my new vampiric attributes."_

"You're trying to make the best of this aren't you?"

"_I drink blood, spikes are coming out of me, I have a tail and I'm pretty sure I've got a set of wings coming in. At this point I'll take any silver lining I can get."_

The fasten seat-belt sign came on and both boys prepared for landing.

* * *

Honda ran to keep up with Nick, occasionally having to dodge a dumpster. 

"Are you sure he's here?" He said breathlessly.

Nick snorted. "You're kidding right? Of course he's here. I've been keeping tabs on his father for a while now. And if Jou's staying with his dad, which he is, we should have no problem finding him."

"Whatever."

The pair kept running through back alleys in search of their target.

Seto stared out the window on his side of the limo, trying to ignore the wrenching pain in his gut. Sadly he knew what that feeling meant. He was hungry. REALLY hungry.

"Hey Seto, isn't that Jou's apartment building up ahead?"

He didn't look over at Mokuba. _"Stop the car…" _He was seeing red…

"But Seto-"

"_I SAID STOP THE CAR!"_

The driver slammed down on the brakes, causing Seto and Mokuba to jerk forward. Before anyone could comment on his actions, Seto opened his door and bolted. Like hell he was going hurt his brother.

"Seto!"

He kept running until he could no longer hear his brother. His vision was tinted red, he needed to feed. But, on who? None of these people deserved to die. He stopped and looked around. Jesus…he was close to Jou's place. As in right in front of it.

Seto closed his eyes and tried to collect his thoughts. _"Alright…someone here must be evil…" _Then he felt it. It was familiar…It was the same feeling he had when… His eyes shot open.

"_Honda." _He growled before dashing into an alley along the side of the building.

* * *

Jou opened his curtains slowly, gazing out at the city before him. Sure, Domino had been his home for awhile…but New York was where he truly felt at peace. He pulled open the sliding glass doors that led out to his room's balcony, before walking out onto the terrace. 

A light breeze ruffled his hair lightly. 'I refuse to believe you're dead Seto.' He thought, looking down at the street below. A silver flash caught his eye. The silver was glinting off of some guy's trench coat as he ran into the alley. Wait…Jou looked again at the figure. The man met up with two others and stopped. The other two didn't look happy.

* * *

"K-Kaiba!" Honda stuttered. "You're okay!" 

Seto was not amused. _"I'm glad to see that the both of you haven't been caught by the authorities."_

Honda was frozen in place. "Why?"

The brunet through his coat to the side, revealing his spikes, tail and claws. The whites of his eyes turned red along with his irises as the pupils became slitted. Seto straightened out, ignoring the pressure on his back.

"_So I can kill you myself."_

Nick and Honda finally moved, even if it was only to draw their guns.

"What the fuck are you man?" Nick yelled.

Seto sauntered forward, allowing the man to unload a few shells into his chest.

"_The last thing you are ever going to see."_

Seto raised his hand; claws extended, and raked it across Nick's face. Effectively gauging out the man's eyes. He screamed and dropped his gun, raising his hands shakily to his face.

"_Well, I guess you won't be going anywhere. Now," _Seto turned to Honda. _"You weren't thinking of leaving, were you?" _

Honda backed up, turning to run. Unfortunately, he had failed to notice that Seto's tail was twined around his leg. Seto pulled up and Honda went down hard.

The brunet raised his hands to pull back his hair, giving the boy a good view of his fangs. Seto smiled down at Honda.

"_Don't worry; I'll make this as painful as possible."_

* * *

R&R! 


	16. Stage Fifteen: Desolation

Chapter 15. Ooooooo.

Warnings: Gore, I am momentarily hiking the rating to M because I don't want to get deleted for having serious vampirism-ness.

**Show Me How It Ends**

**-Stage Fifteen: Desolation-**

Jou looked down in horror. He may not have been able to see everything that was taking place, but it was not natural for someone to take multiple gunshots to the chest and still be standing. He ran back inside and reached for his phone so he could call the police. But a gut feeling told him to stop. Katsuya turned and walked back to the balcony. He watched once more as the man in black descended towards the guy beneath him.

* * *

"_Don't worry, I'll make this as painful as possible."_

Honda quivered beneath Seto.

"Listen man…" He moved his arm behind his back, reaching for the switchblade in his back pocket.

"_Now why would I do that? After all, you're the reason I'm like this in the first place."_ Seto's tail twitched in anticipation. _"And I've been waiting to start a little massacre of my own."_

Seto leaned down and bared his fangs menacingly. _"Ready to play?"_

"Like hell I'm gonna be your fucking meal!" Honda brought the blade out from behind him and ripped it down the right side of the brunet's back. Seto remained unfazed, the pain numbed by the promise of revenge. Once again, he ignored the tension in his back, which was now evolving into a twitching mass beneath the torn skin and veins.

"_A pitiful last line of defense, Hiroto. But I will give you credit for trying."_

The spike haired murderer watched in terror as Seto descended onto him.

* * *

As disgusted as Jou was, he couldn't bring himself to turn away from the scene of carnage beneath him. One man was clutching his face and wandering around aimlessly, blind to the events around him. His hands covered in what looked suspiciously like blood. The other one, well that was an entirely different story.

The guy that had taken the bullets was crouching over a man who had just planted a knife in his back. And it would have been just another move if not for the fact that the wound in which the blade had opened up was not bleeding. The skin was tearing back to reveal a leathery black…something. It looked like muscle, or a layer of black skin.

Whatever it was, it wasn't human.

* * *

Seto was hovering over Honda, pinning the smaller man's arms back with one hand. The vampire's free hand was carving what was beginning to look like a Blue-Eyes White Dragon into his chest. When the outline was complete, much to the screaming dismay of Hiroto, Seto began shading. Blood was running down the sides of his chest, staining the dark asphalt around him. And the CEO couldn't have been more pleased.

Seto had been so preoccupied with bringing the psychotic shooter the pain and suffering that he so justly deserved, the brunet had forgotten about his own fierce blood lust.

"_As much as you wished not to be my meal, I am afraid I will not be able to grant that request." _Seto grinned widely. _"Guess what's for dinner?"_

Honda's pupils were pinpricks, his face almost as pale as Seto's. He leaned in next to Hiroto's ear. _"This is for all of the pain you've caused Katsuya."_

Seto sank his fangs into the base of his neck. Clenching his jaw, he heard a muffled crunch beneath the horrified cries issuing from his prey. A gasping sound replaced the cries and confirmed that Seto had crushed his windpipe. The vampire ripped his head to the side, severing the jugular vein and splattering fresh blood all over the already damp ground. Honda thrashed for a few moments before going still. The brunet stood up, surveying his work.

A bloody-red Blue-Eyes graced the dead man's chest, and his neck could have passed for a failed decapitation.

"Ho…Honda?" Nick was still clutching his eyes. "You…okay?"

Seto walked over to Honda's now blind accomplice. He circled, assessing the damage he had done to the man.

"_I don't know what part you played in all of this, and I have things to do, so I'll make this quick." _

Seto reached out and placed his hands on the sides of Nick's head and twisted sharply, snapping his neck. The body slumped to the floor, joining that of its partner.

* * *

Jou was glad the man had finally finished those guys off. Even if it was a bit disturbing that he had just witnessed a, well it looked like a vampire, tear out someone's throat. For some reason, he didn't feel any remorse for those that had been killed. Almost like they…_deserved _it. Katsuya just leaned against the railing, staring down until-

"JOU! DINNER!"

He turned around quickly and stared at his clock. Damn, it was already seven.

"Coming!"

And so, Jou dealt with watching two men be practically gutted because, in all honesty, he didn't care anymore. He had seen enough shit happen to be fazed by this. Who would believe him anyway? His father and sister believed that he was loosing it, this would be just one more reason to throw him into the loony bin.

But maybe, just maybe, the real reason it didn't bother him was that the man in black looked a lot like Seto.

* * *

Seto had finally taken notice of the bulging black thing coming out of his back. He reached an arm over his shoulder to touch it, recoiling quickly when it twitched violently at his touch. The brunet, now able to think coherently after eating was able to deduct what the blonde in the balcony above had been unable to.

"_These must be the wings that the book was talking about."_

He reached behind to the left side of his back and felt for anything. He was met with just what appeared to be a swollen patch of skin exactly opposite to where the right wing was breaking through. Seto brought back his hand, glancing at his now normal looking nails that, minutes ago, had been inch long, razor-sharp talons. He continued to watch in slight fascination as the claws extended as he was trying to recall what they looked like. Seto decided that this waiting for his new appendages was out of the question. He brought his nails down on the slight swell, ripping the skin away to reveal more black. He continued to claw away at his back until all that was visible was an ebony skin.

He noted in growing annoyance that the wings weren't budging.

"_I need a mode of transportation. And these goddamn wings aren't doing anything but piss me off!"_

Seto walked over to where he had thrown his coat, luckily, no blood had gotten on it because it was fairly close to Honda's corpse.

"_I wonder if I should do anything about these bodies………nah."_

He pulled on his coat, turning away from the street to proceed down the alley. Wait! Seto turned back around and ran out of the lane and almost in to an old woman.

"_Sorry!"_

The brunet turned right and stared. This was Jou's building. He craned his head back to the alley and noticed the fire escape on the structure adjacent to the apartments. Yes. A way in! Sort of. Seto walked back into the alley and began scaling the rickety metal steps. First floor…second floor…third floor…some woman screaming relentlessly…heh, heh…fourth floor…fifth floor…sixth floor…oooohhhh, sirens. The screaming lady must have found the bodies. Maybe he should have done something about that…seventh floor…roof. Okay the top of the building next to Katsuya's. A total of about twenty feet away from one of the apartment's balconies. With a running start, he should have no problem in jumping the gap.

(He's a vampire damn-it! Vampires can do anything! So says the authoress who now realizes what not giving Seto an immediate pair of wings means. So, he can jump now.)

He backed up and sprinted towards the edge, leaping as he reached the end. The police below didn't notice as a man flew overhead. It was all for the best. Seto, being as calculating as he is, had measured the distance he had to leap, but had failed to notice that his claws were still extended and, well, he lost his grip on the railing when he landed. So, he fell to the balcony below, which just happened to be the deck off of Shizuka's room. Seto, of course, didn't know this and moved to get up and straighten himself out. As he was dusting himself off, he turned around and came face to face behind a pane of glass with Shizuka herself. They stood in silence for a moment, staring at each other, wondering what to do next. Shizuka made the first move.

She screamed.

* * *

Please review and I will love you forever! 


	17. Stage Sixteen: Complications

Hello! This is chapter 16, for all of you who can't count.

**Show Me How It Ends**

**-Stage Sixteen: Complications-**

Shizuka screamed.

Seto lost his balance once more at the girl's frightened shrieks. His arms flailed outward as he tried to regain a footholdHe failed miserably as he fell backwards off the balcony. Shizuka watched in slight amazement, which quickly turned to panic, as the brunet disappeared from sight. "Oh! Oh, my God-"

She reached for the door handle and tore open the sliding glass. A muffled thud reached her ears, followed by a defined _rrriiiipppp_.

"_Oh, yes. And **now** you decide to work."_

The girl scrambled to the railing and looked down at the man. She was about to yell down to him when-

"Shizuka? Sweetie, are you alright?"

She froze before twirling around to come face to face with her father.

"OH! Dad! Hey…um…yeah, I'm fine! It was just a…you know…a spider. But everything's cool now because I killed it."

"_You killed it alright…uhhgg…"_

"Who was that?"

"It was me dad, speaker phone. Everything's fine you can go!" Shizuka ushered her father out of the room and locked the door before turning back to the balcony.

She looked down once more at the brunet, who was already staring up at her.

"_Oh, now that wasn't at all suspicious."_

"Oh my God…Seto?"

Shizuka was dumbfounded. 1) Seto Kaiba was dead. 2) The man below her had just fallen six stories. 3) Were those wings?

"_Shizuka, as much as I would love to have this conversation right now, I'm in an alley and you're on a balcony."_

"Seto?"

Seto knew what was going on. He had seen this before many times.

"_Okay, listen. I need you to be as calm as you possibly can. I'm going to come up. No screaming."_

She was in denial. Well duh. Who wouldn't be if faced with their brother's dead friend? She backed up slightly watching in shock as the guy beneath her spread a pair of leathery black wings and beat them experimentally. He finally gained some altitude and haphazardly flew up to Shizuka.

She stared at Seto blankly.

"…cool…" she whispered. "…G'nigt…" She passed out, falling into Seto's arms.

"_That went well…"_

The CEO carried Shizuka over to her bed, gently placing her among the various stuffed animals. Seto, though slightly upset that he had scared the girl, was glad that she was out of the way for the moment. This meant that he had a clear shot with Katsuya.

God. He was so close.

Seto walked back out to the deck. He stared out at the city before him. Then to the veranda adjacent to the one he was standing on. The brunet smiled as he jumped the small gap between the decks. The sun was beginning to set, giving off an almost bloody red light.

"_Fitting…" _

Seto turned towards the door, almost relieved to find the curtains closed. He reached for the latch and gently pulled open the door, careful not to make a sound as he slipped inside the room.

The room was completely black. It took a moment for Seto's eyes to adjust to the darkness. When they had, he was able to see what was in front of him.

Or rather, _who_ was in front of him.

"…hey Set'…"

* * *

I know this is short, but deal. I have more coming soon. R&R please! 


	18. Stage Seventeen: Acceptance

Thank you to all of my reviewers! YOU GUYS ROCK! Ahem…well…on with the chapter!

Pssst…PSSST….listen to Amber Pacific's song 'Gone So Young' It's what I'm listening to now…IT ROCKS AS MUCH AS YOU ALL DO!

**Show Me How It Ends**

**-Stage Seventeen: Acceptance-**

Seto was fully taken aback. Sure he was all confident and stuff before…but now that he was actually faced with the one person he had done all of this for…

Jou moved past the CEO and reached for the curtains. "I'm going to open the curtains, I don't feel much like turning on a light and it's still bright enough outside."

Seto reached out and grabbed Katsuya's arm. Effectively stopping him in his tracks.

"…_no…don't…"_

Jou turned to Seto, whose face was still veiled in darkness. He gently released the blonde's wrist.

"Damn…" Katsuya examined his wrist. Five pinpricks were starting to bleed where Seto's nails had been. He turned to the taller boy, holding up his wrist so the brunet could see.

The vampire cringed. This was just going so well. _"Jou, I-"_

Katsuya silenced Seto with a gesture of his hand.

"No worries, a little blood never killed anyone." He walked over to his desk and grabbed a few tissues to clean up the blood. He came back over to the brunet. Seto was thankful that it was still dark enough within the room for Jou to be unable to see the recent additions to his body.

"Okay, I'm going to leave for a few minutes to get some bandages. Then I'm going to come back and you will be gone," he turned on his heel, walking towards the door. "Because you are just a figment of my imagination."

The door clicked shut and Seto was left alone. Jou's words had sunken in; he didn't believe Seto was real. He sighed and quickly pulled off his coat. As cool as having wings was, they had torn his coat and would no doubt unnerve Jou to no end. And he liked that coat too. He pulled the cloth back over his wings, effectively hiding them, as well as his ever present spikes, from view. Seto moved to the curtains deciding to shed a bit of light on the room now that everything was covered up. He would make Katsuya believe him.

He pulled back the shades, smiling slightly when he saw the bluish-black glow that had settled over the city. The sun had already set and the moon was beginning to shine an eerie iridescent light into the room.

Seto once more heard the click of the lock and turned his gaze away from the city. He laughed when Jou muttered, 'God Damnit, you're still here.'

"_I'm not a hallucination."_

Jou was silent for a moment before speaking with a quavering voice.

"…why can't you just leave me alone?"

Seto froze.

"…why can't I just forget you?"

The brunet walked over to Jou, silhouetted against the moonlight.

"_I'm not an illusion."_

"Then what are you!"

A loud smack echoed throughout the room. Jou's head was forcefully turned to the side, a red mark appearing on his cheek.

"_If I'm not real, then I couldn't have slapped you. By the way, I'm sorry about that but you were losing it pup."_

"Seto…?"

"_Yes. Please don't faint on me like your sister."_

Jou was in shock. "But…how…?"

Seto smirked, happy to have gotten through to the blonde.

"_It's a long story."_

Katsuya snorted. "Does it look like I have to be somewhere?" He grabbed the chair from his desk and flipped it around so the back was to Seto. He sat down, legs splayed to the side and his arms resting on the back.

"I want to know…what…_happened _to you. How are you alive? I mean sure that jack-ass of a police chief said you disappeared from the morgue, but…gods this is confusing…"

Seto growled darkly. _"Matthew…"_

"Who's Matthew?"

"_Matthew's the bastard that…he's part of the long story…"_

Jou mouthed an 'oh' and continued to watch the brunet.

"You can start now if you like, I'm willing to listen."

* * *

"Holy Shit." 

"_Yeah."_

"You're a vampire?"

"_Yeah."_

"So you were the one that attacked those guys down there."

Seto stared blankly at Jou.

"_You saw that?"_

The blonde nodded silently.

"You quite literally tore them a new one."

"_They weren't just guys Katsuya. It was Honda. And whoever the hell he was with was not happy about my being there."_

Jou was shocked.

"Kudos then for a job well done."

"_You're not hideously disgusted by what I did?"_

"I'm not going to say it wasn't nauseatingly gory, but if anyone disserved that fate, it was him."

The boys sat in silence for a few minutes. Jou finally spoke up, asking the question that had been bothering him all night.

"Why did you come back?"

Seto looked out the window, trying to think of a way to tell Jou exactly what he wanted to.

"_I wanted to let you know that I was okay."_

"That's bullshit and you know it. You wouldn't have just hocked your humanity to tell me that you were okay."

Seto scowled.

"_You're right. You want to know the real reason I agreed to be a blood sucking devil?"_

Jou stepped up to the brunet.

"Of course I want to know the real reason."

He grabbed Katsuya's arm and ripped him forward, their faces inches apart.

"_The reason is you."_

Seto lowered his lips gently to the blonde's.

They both stayed like that for a few seconds. Seto was panicking, Jou hadn't reacted. Just as he was about to pull away, the blonde wrapped his arms around the brunet holding him, and pressed himself firmly against the other's body.

Seto pulled back and pressed his forehead gently to Katsuya's

"_I love you."_

* * *

Review! 


	19. Stage Eighteen: Awakening

Hello everyone! All right, I want to clear a few things up. 1) When I started typing this, I envisioned Jou's apartment like the one Peter Parker shared with Harry Osborn in 'Spiderman', with the big loft ceiling and everything. 2) There will be a sequel. 3) Seto is going to look like Devilman from the 2004 movie when he goes full vampire. Just without all the head stuff. It's so cool, I was surfing and I found the website for the movie and that was exactly what I envisioned Seto looking like! Go to google and type in Devilman movie or Devilman 2004. I can't put any links up because screws them up. 

I have two more things to say.

**1)** Chocolate Cheese, your pictures were awesome. I put them in my favorites so now I can look at them whenever I forget what I wanted Seto to look like!

Here is the URL:

fanart .the otaku .com / view . php ? action retrieve & id 58464

**2)** To Faith Hunter Jounouchi, I tip my hat to you. You have become a close friend and didn't complain when it took me two weeks to get you the chapter after I asked for help. I totally love you and you are still my favorite authoress : )

**Show Me How It Ends **

**-Stage Eighteen: Awakening-**

Seto held Jou almost painfully tight, as if afraid he would disappear. The blonde didn't want to move, praying that this wasn't just some dream he would wake up from alone.

"_This isn't a dream."_

Katsuya smiled into Seto's chest before looking up into his sapphire eyes.

"Even in my head you contradict me."

The blue-eyed CEO rested his head on the soft blond locks of his puppy. _"Can't have you thinking I've changed now, can I?"_ Jou stifled a laugh. "I don't know, Mokuba might say otherwise."

Seto paused, eyes still shut as he nuzzled the blonde. _"I'd think I'd rather be the same to him than have him think I'm some kind of devil."_

Jou pulled away to give another small kiss to the brunet.

"You're not a devil Seto."

Katsuya became wary when the man in his grasp tensed rather noticeably. "Seto?"

Seto let go of Jou quickly, as if just realizing something. He looked at the blonde, pain and fear evident in his gaze. Katsuya had to look again, but for the briefest moment, he could have sworn that Seto's eyes were crimson. "Seto? What is it?"

_"I am a devil…"_ He had killed. Sure it was Honda but…Seto was physically nauseous. He had eaten the spike haired freak. This gave a whole new meaning to cannibalism. 

"_I killed Honda…"_

Jou moved to where Seto had backed up. "Honda deserved that-"

The brunet had a look of pure disgust on his face.

_"I ate him…I actually **ate **him! I didn't even acknowledge that he was human! I just-"_

Katsuya grabbed his shoulders roughly.

"Fed. You fed because you needed it. Not because you're some kind of demon, because you've become something more than what you were. That is how you survive now. If everything you told me is true, like it or not, you aren't human anymore."

Jou wrapped his arms around Seto tightly, trying to assure him everything was okay.

"You're not a devil, you're Seto."

The vampire looked down at the golden pup holding on to him for dear life. Barely audible, Seto almost missed it when Jou whispered. "…I love you…"

Seto raised his arms to embrace the blonde once more. _"I love you too, but I am a devil."_

Jou released Seto and backed away so he could look at his face.

"Why do you keep saying that? If you want me to stake you or something, I'm not gonna do it."

Seto raised a defined eyebrow. _"I am not asking you to stake me, Katsuya. But there are a few things I haven't told you about yet. And in all honesty, I'm a bit scared to."_

Jou stared blankly.

"What could possibly be that bad? In the last hour, you've showed up at my apartment after being legally dead for three weeks, you told me that you're now a vampire and that you came back because you're in love with me. If I can handle that along with watching you maul two people, I think anything you could still possibly want to tell me wouldn't bother me that much. Besides, I love you and I'll forcibly accept anything you do or say because I desperately want to be with you. So there."

Seto smiled, a rare thing.

"_Thank you, but if I show you, promise me you won't yell or anything."_

"Cross my heart and hope to die."

"_Don't say that."_

"Why?"

"_With everything that has been going on lately, it may just happen."_

"Oh, well…that's a good reason."

"_Turn around."_

"Why?"

_"I'm just a bit self-conscious, okay? A lot more so now…"_

"Fine…"

Jou turned around and Seto began to remove his coat. He let the material fall to the floor, groaning as his wings were released. He paused, realizing that his turtleneck wasn't going to come off around the leathery appendages. Seto drew a finger down the front of the shirt, tearing the material away to reveal small spines tracing his chest and shoulders, gradually growing larger as they got farther up his body. The disappearing shirt also revealed a round scar just below Seto's heart. An all too familiar mark left behind by the bullet that took his life.

_"Jou…"_

The blonde curved around, only to be met with a sight that he wasn't prepared for at all.

"Oh my god…"

Seto cringed and looked away from the other. The blonde moved to stand before the brunet. He watched the slight twitch of his love's tail in amazement. Jou raised a hand to gently trace one of Seto's shoulders, pausing as his fingers snared on one of the thin, black spikes.

"…how…?"

_"I told you. I'm a vampire."_

The 'devil' found his voice and pulled away from Jou, wings flaring slightly. A warning to the blonde to back off. Seto may not have wanted to frighten his pup, but he succeeded in that venture nonetheless. Katsuya fell back onto his bed, eyes wide.

"_Rethinking your words already?" _The sentence came out in an almost sneer. Jou's reaction to Seto's new form was almost expected by him. But it was still unwanted.

"No, Set-"

"_I knew it would be a mistake if I came."_ He turned on his heel and strode towards the glass doors. Jou pushed himself off the bed and ran in front of Seto, blocking him.

"You aren't going anywhere! Why are you suddenly so put off?"

A sharp knock brought the two's attention to the door. 

"Katsuya!" A girl's sob followed the cry. "Kat-su-ya!" Shizuka burst into the room and hit Jou at full speed wrapping her arms around him in a terrified hug.

"Oh my God! I-I-…All your talking about everything…I didn't know your psycho-ness was contagious!"

Jou looked around over Shizuka shoulder. Seto was nowhere to be seen.

"Shizuka listen, if what you're saying is true, I caused you're problem so go talk to dad. Bye!"

The blonde pulled her away from him and shoved her out the door as gently as he could. He slammed and locked it before running a quick search of his room for the vampire.

Jou ran to the glass doors and watched the brunet perched on the railing for a moment, wings spread wide. He slid back the panel and walked out to the deck.

"So what, your just gonna leave now?" the blonde alleged, leaning against the rail next to Seto.

The vampire turned to the other, cinnamon bangs hiding his eyes. He remained silent as he flexed his wings experimentally, looking out once more into the darkness.

"God, so you're going to ignore me now? Fine. 'Cause it doesn't matter. Do you want to know why?"

Silence.

Jou reached over and grabbed Seto's tail, much to the delight of the aforementioned owner of the said tail, and pulled. Hard. As of today, Seto had discovered that he really didn't have any sense of balance. Come to think of it, his common sense must have been on vacation as well. That action had caused the brunet to end up in a heap at Katsuya's feet.

"That is why. You aren't going anywhere until you tell me why you freaked out like that! Honestly! You come back from the f-ing dead, tell me you love me…and that's like a total surprise because I've pretty much loved you since the start of Junior year…whatever, listen, Why. Did. You. Freak?"

Seto remained quiet for a few seconds. Jou contently noted that the brunet's tail was wrapping itself around his hand. "Aww…it likes me…" he whispered lightly. Seto let out a small laugh as he got to his feet, his tail still grasped by / wrapped around the blonde's arm.

"_It's just…"_ Seto started.

"Yes?"

_"You said it yourself, you've been in love with me since junior year. You fell in love with who I was…not what I've become."_

"You are such an emo."

_"What?"_

"I've finally figured it out, you're either an emo, or you're bi-polar."

_"Were you even listening to me?"_

Jou just stood there, completely calm and collected. Seto on the other hand, was on the verge of an aneurysm.

"It doesn't matter. You're still hot, and you've still got your shining personality!"

Seto's mouth was hanging open in disbelief.

_"So…you don't care about the wings and stuff?"_

Jou snorted before quickly raising a hand to cover his mouth and nose.

A slightly muffled 'Of course not.' Could be heard from beneath Katsuya's fingers.

Seto now remembering that his tail was still in Katsuya's other hand, tugged it back lightly. Causing Jou to move forward with it. Seto reached out and grasped the blonde's waist before pulling him into a gentle kiss. He let Jou's head fall onto his chest.

_"You really think I'm an emo?"_ Seto whispered. 

"Mayhaps."

* * *

**The end of this chapter has been written by the supremely great authoress Faith Hunter Jounouchi! It does contain a LEMON, so if you don't like it…well then the chapter's over. So enjoy!

* * *

**

Suddenly the vampire lifted off the ground and walked back into the darkened room of his beloved golden puppy. Jou could see the mischievous glint in the former CEO's eyes and fell for them instantaneously. The brunette held out his hand and the puppy willing took what was offered, though he didn't see the whole deal. Jou was in a trance that only Seto could put on him and was willing to let the vampire have what it was he desired so bad, why he even agreed to be the undead for the rest of eternity.

The moon's silver beams hit the bedroom floor and gave off a romantic lighting. Kaiba's blue eyes dazzled with passion and love from the moon's light and he titled his head down and took Joey into a deep and heated kiss. Jou moaned as he felt Kaiba's hardening member rub against his own. The brunette took the kiss over whole-heartedly and made his lover breathless. The harsh need for air made Jou push Seto away but that didn't stop the young vampire. Not even close. The vampire lent down and whispered into his soon-to-be lover's ear, _"You've been strong without me my love, now show me how defenseless you really are." _

Seto sat up straight and straddled Jou's legs. He smiled when he saw the definite arrival of lust in his lover's eyes and heard it in his pants for air. "Seto." The blonde whispered. The brunette touched Jou's lips with a finger and shook his head. He then began to unzip the torturous pants that the puppy was wearing, though he did not remove them, just yet. Seto lay back down and kissed the blonde lightly on his lips then made his way down to his jaw line then moved to the skin just behind his lover's left ear. Jou turned his head to the right, giving more room for the brunette to work with.

As Kaiba gave Jou his best love bite the blonde massaged the brunette's shoulders and back. Then suddenly shivers of lust crawled up Jou's spine as Kaiba softly drug his left hand down the blonde's chest and abdomen, then finally down the front of his pants. Jou moaned when he felt Kaiba began to massage him and he bucked his hips. Kaiba looked up from his lover's attacked skin and into those soft honey brown eyes.

"Seto…please." Jou whined in a puppy fashion. The brunette softly squeezed his lover and smirked, _"Please what pup?"_ The pup moaned and bucked his hips again. "Please…just take them off then take me." The blonde whimpered. Kaiba smirked and kissed his lover's lips. He did as the blonde pleaded and removed his confining pants. Jou moaned again as the cold air hit him and hooked his arms around the brunette's neck.

"Come on, your turn." Jou said while playing with the waistband of the vampire's pants. The brunette smiled then let his lover slide his pants off, now they were both wearing nothing but the moonlight on their backs. The blonde had to look at his bare lover, Kaiba smirked when Jou laid himself back down and brought the vampire with him.

Seto stared where he left off and sucked at the flesh behind Jou's ear while his hands roamed freely up and down the blonde's lithe body. "Ahhh…. uhhh…Seto." Jou whispered as he felt their beings rub together. With that, Seto left his mark and began to make his way down to Jou's collarbone and licked the tender flesh then he moved down further to the blonde's navel. He kissed the skin on either sides of it before slipping his tongue into it. Jou felt weak with lust and panted as he lay on the mattress and locked his gaze with the vampire. Seto looked at his lover from above and watched as the body beneath him glistened with sweat from the moon's light.

"Take me Seto." Jou whispered. The vampire smirked and kissed his puppy softly. He positioned himself between the blonde's legs at his entrance; all the blonde could do was move his legs even further apart to make more room for his lover. Before Seto slid in, he whispered to his puppy these words, _"Show me how it ends."_ Slowly the vampire slid in and drove the blonde beneath him crazy. "Faster Seto." Jou pleaded. _"Just be patient pup."_ Seto's voice was full of struggle and lust.

Seto pulled out of Jou then slammed into him quick and hard and all he heard was his lover scream in bliss and grip his shoulder spikes for leverage. Kaiba repeated the same thing over and over until he found the blonde's sweet spot and made the puppy cry his name violently, boy was his voice gonna be scratchy. Again, the vampire hit the spot and Jou began to see stars of white. He moaned and bucked his hips when the brunette began pumping him in time with his thrusts. Soon, Jou could hold on no longer. The blonde came hard, spilling his essence on Kaiba's hand and their chests and screaming Seto's name at the top of his lungs. It was soon to be known that Kaiba wasn't going to last any longer; Jou's muscles contracted around him and the pressure alone brought the brunette to his climax, crying the puppy's name into the dead of the night and spilling his seed into the blonde.

Seto felt his body go entirely limp and he fell to the bedside beside his lover. As the vampire looked over to the puppy he found him sucking on one of his fingers. _"What's wrong Jou?"_ The blonde pulled his finger out of his mouth; "I cut myself on your spike." With a smirk, Kaiba lent over and took the digit into his mouth and drank the sweet nectar that was the puppy's blood until it stopped bleeding. Soon he released the digit and watched as the blonde yawned, _"Bedtime puppy, sleep well." _Jou nodded and rested his head on his feather soft pillow and let his eyes fall shut but not without saying these last few words, "I love you Seto."

* * *

I finally got out another chapter! YES! Please review, as per usual and I will get the next one out as soon as possible! 


	20. Stage Nineteen: Infiltration

Special shout out to FireieGurl: My 200th reviewer! YAY! (I was gone when I got my 100th review…which I was really happy about. Sorry for not saying anything before!) I love all you guys! You make me so happy! Once again, I would like to give a shout out to **Faith Hunter Jounouchi** for writing the end of the last chapter! And I think we all owe her a big round of applause for her wonderful lemon!

If it isn't too much to ask, I humbly request that everyone who reads this chapter reviews. I would really like to see how many people read it and actually enjoy it : ) If not for me, do it for the children.

Jou & Seto – 17

Shizuka – 13

Mokuba – 12

**Show Me How It Ends**

**-Stage Nineteen: Infiltration-**

A muffled ringing sounded from the pocket of a black trench coat lying forgotten on the floor. Seto cracked open a bleary eye and groaned softly. The vampire gently released Jou from his grasp and let the blonde's head fall from his chest to the pillow. He took a moment to gaze at the one in front of him. Smiling, he ran a hand slowly through his love's silky golden locks.

'So beautiful…So perfect…So-'

The ringing started again, jarring Seto from his thoughts. It took him a moment to realize that it was his phone.

"_Damn it all…"_

The brunet crawled out of the bed as quickly as he could without waking Jou. The blonde shifted slightly, but didn't wake. Seto, still stark naked, bent over his coat and rummaged around in the pockets in search of the offending object. He finally grasped the phone and pulled it out, scowling indignantly. Flipping open the cover, Seto answered with a quiet but vicious _'What?'_

-Seto?-

The brunet paused for a moment.

"_Mokuba?"_

-Finally I get a hold of you! What happened? Are you okay? Where are you?-

Seto smiled softly, leave it to his brother to worry.

"_Mokuba, I'm fine. I'm with Jou right now."_

A loud gasp filtered through the receiver. –So he knows?-

"_Yes Mokuba, he knows."_

-Oh…okay. What happened in the limo yesterday? You wigged out, the driver thought you fell out of the car or something.-

Seto sighed. _"I was hungry."_

An uncomfortable silence followed the statement.

-…oh…well, that's…understandable I guess. Ummm…I have some stuff to do so I'll get right to the point. One, we're staying at the Hilton, top floor Suite 918. Two, some guy named Matthew called looking for-

"_Who?"_

-A guy named Matthew. He said it was urgent and he really needed to meet with you. Something about a hierarchy. I didn't really understand half the stuff he was saying. Do you know him?-

"_Yeah, a bit." _Seto said, scowling.

-Well, I gave him your number so he could get a hold of you.-

Seto resisted the urge to scream. _"Mokuba, if he calls again…DON'T tell him where I am. Under ANY circumstances, okay?"_

-…sorry big brother.-

"_It's okay, just don't worry about it. Love you."_

-Love you too Seto, bye.-

Seto flipped shut the phone and walked back to the bed, grabbing his scattered clothing from the floor. He sat down on the sheets and pulled his pants on. The brunet held up his shirt and stared at it for a moment. His glare would have burned holes through it, if there was any shirt left to glare holes in. Seto threw it to the side and reached for his coat, the back of which almost as nonexistent as his shirt. Smiling, he noticed that his wings fit through the gaps in the cloth. _"That feels better…" _A soft sigh came from behind Seto. The brunet turned around to gaze at Jou for a moment. _'I still cannot believe he loves me…'_

Seto, now as dressed as he was going to get, walked towards the glass doors that led out to the balcony. He paused for a second, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose. The brunet turned back and looked around. His eyes landed on a desk near the door. He moved towards it and reached for a stray notebook lying haphazardly near the corner. Tearing out a page, he scrawled a note to Katsuya. Which he folded neatly and placed on the nightstand beside the blonde. Once again, Seto moved to the doors, sliding them open and walking out. He leaned against the railing, contemplating what he was going to do next.

"Do you have any idea how lucky you are that dad had to go in last night?"

Seto froze and turned his head towards the brunette nibbling on a pop tart and standing on the adjacent deck beside him.

"_What? No fainting this time?"_

Shizuka blushed lightly before chucking the rest of her pop tart at Seto.

"Shut up! You just freaked me out that's all!"

The CEO smirked.

"_Not afraid of me anymore?"_

"I never was." She replied confidently.

Seto flashed his fangs in a toothy smile.

"_Boo."_

The girl let out a strangled 'eep' and backed up quickly.

"_Jumpy much?"_

Shizuka regained her composure and growled at him.

"If I had another pop tart, I would freeze it and throw it at you."

Seto brought a hand to cover his heart.

"_So much evil in such a small girl! Please I'll do anything! Just don't hurt me!"_

She laughed lightly and Seto smiled.

"_Do you believe that I'm real now?"_

Shizuka became quiet for a moment, thinking the question over. She took a deep breath.

"A hallucination can't make Katsuya scream like that." She said quietly, her cheeks turning a rosy pink.

Seto's face soon matched Shizuka's. Both were silent for a few minutes, staring out at the burgeoning sunrise.

"If you hurt him…I'll put you in your grave for real this time. You have no idea what he's been through since…you know…"

Seto was taken aback at the seriousness of her tone.

"_I didn't come here to break him."_

"And to think, we all thought he was insane when he said you were still alive."

"_That isn't entirely true."_

"What, the insanity thing?"

"_No, the alive thing."_

"Okay, before you go into that, what are you?"

Seto cocked an eyebrow. _"You're really straightforward. You know that?"_

"Katsuya say's it's one of my more annoying qualities."

"_Well he's right."_

"…meanie…" Shizuka mumbled.

"_I'm a vampire."_

She stared at him for a moment.

"Riiiiight."

Seto was dumbstruck.

"_Hello? Came back from the dead?"_ He pointed at his face. _"Fangs?"_

"Oh yeah!"

_"My god…"_

"Soooo…how'd it happen?"

_"What?"_

"How did you become all scary and stuff?"

_"Long story short, I died, this vampire Matthew turned me. I ran away, came here and am now talking to you."_

"I have to say Seto, I'm seeing a whole new side of you, and it's really creeping me out."

_"You are a brat"_

"Am I?"

_"Yeah, you're even worse than Mokuba."_

Seto started laughing and Shizuka joined in. Both of them were still laughing as Seto's phone rang. The brunet, smiling, answered it.

_"Hello?"_

-_Miss me?_-

* * *

Review!...please? 


	21. Stage Twenty: Escalation

Here's chapter twenty. The second to last chapter (I think) I will post before school starts. School starts earlier for me and we get less vacation time EVEN THOUGH we get out of school at the SAME TIME! School sucks. And since the majority of my summer was spent on the computer, I'm going to have withdrawal when I go back.

This chapter is dedicated to my friend Eryn, whose mother passed away last week.

**-Show Me How It Ends-**

**Stage Twenty: Escalation**

Seto's grasp on the phone was tightening.

"_Who is this?" _He said; his voice dangerously low.

_-That is no way to speak to your master-_

"_No…"_

_-Something you must learn my fledgling, is the art of subtlety. The paper trail you left behind could have been followed by a child.-_

Shizuka was beginning to worry. Seto was shaking with what appeared to be rage, his knuckles white as he clutched his phone like a lifeline.

"_What do you want?"_

_-You know what I want Seto. As I recall, we had a deal. You got your little boyfriend and now I get you.- _

"_Go to Hell!"_

_-I already have. Seto, if you do not wish to cooperate with me, I will be forced to take desperate measures.-_

The CEO laughed darkly. _"What could you possibly do to me? I'm undead, remember?"_

_-I created you, and I can just as easily destroy you. But why risk your own life? Better yet, why risk the lives of the ones you care about?-_

Seto froze. _"You wouldn't…"_

_-As I recall, your brother means the world to you.- _The brunet's eyes widened in horror. _–But, there is the one person who you quite literally sold your soul for- _He whipped around and stared through the window pane at the sleeping blonde. Realization dawning on him as quickly as the morning sun. _–And he is very much alive.-_

"_You leave Katsuya out of this!" _Seto yelled in to the phone, his voice a mixture of anger and fear.

_-I seem to have struck a nerve. Consider your options Fledgling. Serve me for the rest of eternity, or allow those you love to perish-_

Seto was in shock. Being a slave to Matthew until judgment day was not one of his ideal fates. But, if he didn't agree to it, then Katsuya would suffer. Not to mention Mokuba! He closed his eyes and hung his head in shame. He couldn't let anything happen to them because of him.

"_Matthew…"_

_-Yes?-_

"_I'll do it. Just promise me…promise me you won't hurt them." _Seto could almost see Matthew smirking at those words.

_-Your brother is missing you. You should go see him.-_

The line went dead and Seto closed his phone slowly. "Seto?" The brunet jumped at the sound. Shizuka stood before him. He had almost forgotten she was even there. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you-"

"_It's alright." _He cut her off abruptly. _" I have to go, tell Katsuya I'll try to come back if I can."_

Seto leapt from the balcony, his wings spread to slow his decent to the ground. He couldn't fly around New York in broad daylight, he'd have to walk. Possibly hail a cab…maybe…

He hit the ground running. He had to make sure that Mokuba was okay, Matthew sounded a bit to cocky for his liking. Katsuya was fine. The blonde was most likely still asleep, and Shizuka would take care of him if anything were to happen.

The brunet folded his wings against his torso; luckily, they looked as if they were part of his outfit. Rushing onto the sidewalk, he made his way through the slight crowd. He bumped against a nicely dressed, black haired man. _"Excuse me," _He muttered half-heartedly. He began to run when the throng of people thinned.

The man Seto had collided with smirked candidly.

"_No, please, excuse me."

* * *

_

I know it's short; I wanted to get out the conversation as soon as I could. Next chapter will have a confrontation between two of the characters. Please don't hate me for the shortness. The next chap will be out by Friday, August 19th


	22. Stage TwentyOne: Desecration

Chapter twenty-one peoples, chapter twenty-one. This is not the last chapter, but we are getting close. Be aware that there will be a sequel. Do you hear me? A **SEQUEL**. So any of you peeps who don't like the ending will be very happy when that rolls around. OR, to make it easier, do you all want me to just continue it on this one? To all my reviewer's, thank you. You all never fail to inspire me : )

Warnings: Use of the F-word. This is how I vent.

Lil' note before we start, have you ever noticed that immoral is kind of like the root of immortality? Does that mean that you have to do something really bad to live forever?

Without further ado, Chapter Twenty-One.

* * *

**-Show Me How It Ends-**

**Stage Twenty-One: Desecration

* * *

**

Shizuka walked up to her brother's door, she raised her hand and knocked lightly.

"Katsu? Are you awake?" She was answered with a groan and what sounded like a muffled 'go 'way'. She gently cracked open the door, before opening it fully. She walked over to the bed and lightly shook her brother. "…no…lee me lone…"

"Get up Katsu! C'mon!"

The blonde rolled over, a pillow in his grasp quickly made contact with the side of his sister's head. "You prat!" She yelled, swatting the lump still underneath the sheets. "You know, FINE! You just stay in bed!" Shizuka angrily walked out of the room, slamming the door as she went.

"Maybe I will…"

Jou rolled back over and stared at his clock.

"7:30? She woke me up at 7:30? For what?"

The blonde suddenly noticed that the bed seemed a bit empty…wait…Jou shot up and stared at the spot where Seto should have been.

"Oh, fuck that."

He looked around almost frantically, searching for any sign of the brunet. His eyes landed on a piece of folded paper resting on his nightstand. He reached out to grab the sheet when he noticed his finger. His right pointer finger. The one he had cut last night. Okay, he _thought _he cut it, except there was no wound or scar or anything.

"Huh. That's interesting."

Katsuya let it slide for the time being and opened the note.

_Katsuya,_

_By the time you wake up I will most likely be gone. Don't start thinking that I don't care about you or any crap like that. I just need to go get some stuff in order and inform Mokuba that I'm not dead…you know what I mean. I'm guessing that after last night this qualifies as a relationship (pffft, who am I kidding? I fucking love you.) I'll try to be back as soon as I can._

_Seto_

Well, no one ever said Seto wasn't romantic…in his own little way. Jou smiled lightly and placed the note back in its original place and tugged the covers over his head, he might as well go back to sleep.

* * *

Shizuka threw herself onto the couch and groaned softly as she thought about the events of the past few weeks. "I should get paid for this…" 

The doorbell sounded and she resisted the urge to start crying. "God-damn it." She walked to the door and pulled it open slowly. A fairly tall black haired man stood before her. He was dressed finely and he had a noble look about him. If not for his ebony eyes, he would have been very handsome.

"_Hello, I'm looking for Jounouchi Katsuya. Is he here?"_

Shizuka recognized the sort of accent the man possessed was the same as Seto's, and that slightly unnerved her. A feeling in her gut told her to be cautious around him.

"Ummm…he's asleep. Maybe you could come back later."

She moved to close the door, but the man reached out and held the door firmly.

"_That's alright, I can wait."_

Shizuka let go of the door and backed away from the man. (Who will now be referred to as Matthew, because that is who he is. Keep in mind that the characters don't know this.)

"W-who are you?" She asked tentatively.

"_My name is Matthew Ravencroft."_

Shizuka froze. Wasn't the guy who made Seto a vampire named Matthew? Matthew closed the door and advanced on the brunette. His gaze met her's; and she silently began to panic as she realized that she couldn't look away.

"_Now you're going to be a good little girl and go to your room. You're going to lock your door and you're not going to come out for anything, understand?"_

The young Jounouchi nodded wordlessly and walked to her room, all the while staring blankly at nothing. The door shut and a small click was heard. Matthew smiled slightly and made his way down the hall. He presumed that the girl's room was next to her brother's. And in this notion, he was correct. Slipping into the second bedroom, he was met with the sight of a sleeping blonde.

"_Hmm…so she was telling the truth after all…"_

Matthew moved to close the curtains.

"…Seto…?"

He turned back towards the bed.

"_Not quite."

* * *

_

"_MOKUBA! MOKUBA, OPEN THIS DOOR!"_

Seto pounded his fist on the wood like there was no tomorrow.

"Okay! Okay, just hold on!" Was the muffled reply.

A small black-haired head poked out into the hallway. Soon followed by the rest of Mokuba's pajama clad body.

"Seto? Why are you here instead of at Jou's?"

The brunet was speechless. Matthew had made it sound like he had done something to Mokuba…

"_Are you okay?"_

Mokuba blinked cutely. "I was going to ask you the same thing. Are you going to stand out in the hall all day?"

Seto glanced around. _"No…I wasn't."_

The younger Kaiba stared at his brother. Seto didn't look that great. He reached out and grabbed Seto's coat, before pulling him into their room.

"What's wrong with you?"

"_Did Matthew come by?"_

"The guy that called? No, he didn't."

Seto stopped to think about what he was hearing. _'Matthew said Mokuba was missing me…and I automatically assume something's wrong. But nothing's wrong…' "Oh God"_

"What is it?"

"_I…I have to go."_

Seto turned around and sprinted out the open door.

"Seto!"

* * *

Okay, it's not twice as long but this is what I've got in two days so bear with me. I'll try to get another chapter out next week, but with school starting, I don't know what will happen. Please review! 


	23. Stage TwentyTwo: Manipulation

Note: last chapter when Jou didn't want to get out of bed, he still put on a pair of boxers. Find a way to make it work in your head. Okie Day?

Warnings: Language. Nothing new.

'thoughts'

"speech"

* * *

**Show Me How It Ends**

**-Stage Twenty-Two: Manipulation-

* * *

**

Jou sat up quickly, the sheet falling away to reveal his bare chest. The linen exposed his upper shoulder, where stitches had seemingly been threaded through unmarred skin.

"Who are you?"

The elder vampire sauntered up to the side of Katsuya's bed.

"_I have to admit, I am very hurt that my fledgling has not mentioned me."_

Jou eyes held a combination of fear, anger and curiosity, Matthew noted smugly that the blonde was having a very hard time meeting his gaze.

"Seto? How…?" Katsuya asked hesitantly. His eyes widened instantly, then looked up into the black haired man's own dark orbs. "Matthew?"

Smirking, the vampire leaned down over the bed.

"_Wonderful! We won't need introductions!"_

Katsuya began to notice just how beautiful the other's eyes were. So dark…so deep…you could just get lost in them…He hadn't even noticed how close Matthew was to him.

_"To think, I was going to let Seto have you all to himself…"_

Matthew leaned in closer to Katsuya, lightly pressing his lips against the blonde's. Jou, after a moment, came to his senses and, to his horror, couldn't pull away. For a moment, the kiss was gentle, questioning, but now it was becoming possessive. The other thrust his tongue into Jou's mouth, and for a brief moment, let his eyes slide shut in pleasure.

That moment was all Katsuya needed.

The blonde reached for the metal alarm clock that rested on his nightstand. He gripped it firmly and raised it quickly to meet the side of the vampire's head. Matthew hissed in pain and let go of him. He rolled off the bed and quickly got up.

"Shizuka!" He yelled, "Call the cops!"

Matthew recovered quickly from the unexpected attack and came up behind the blonde. Using one arm to hold him still, the other to silence his cries.

_"This would be so much easier if you would just accept the fact that you belong to me now."_

* * *

Shizuka sat on her bed silently, staring at the wall. Obviously still in a trance. 

"Shizuka!"

The girl blinked, her eyes loosing their misty glaze. "t'suya?" She glanced around for a moment, realizing that she was in her room. Hadn't she been in the living room though?

"Call the cops!"

Shizuka got up quickly hearing the note of panic in her brother's voice. She ran to the door, but froze in her tracks, not a foot from the door. She couldn't move any further. There wasn't anything there, she just couldn't move. Whipping her head around, she stared at her pink cell phone resting innocently on her desk. Running back to the small table she grabbed the small pink device and dialed at a dizzying speed.

"Please! I need help!"

* * *

Katsuya writhed and fought against the man holding him. Loud shouts deafened by the hand over his mouth. 

"_There is nothing you can do, you might as well stop trying."_

The writhing continued.

'Like Hell I will!'

_"My, My, such a temper…"_

The blonde froze. 'But…I didn't say anything…'

"_You didn't need to say anything. Now, as I was saying before you so rudely interrupted me, you belong to me. You belonged to me the minute your precious Seto agreed to accept his new life. In fact, you should be thanking me for saving you from that wretched boy."_

'What…?'

_"My selfish fledgling claimed that you were the reason he had died, and he would do anything to exact his revenge."_

'No…that's not true…Seto loves me…'

_"On the contrary, I am here because he plans to kill you. I know you had nothing to do with his death, so you have done nothing to deserve such a fate. One as beautiful as you should be protected from that demented boy."_

'Liar.'

_"Am I? You saw what he did to those poor young men in the alley. Are those the actions of one capable of loving?"_

'Liar!'

Jou started to struggle once again, Matthew's grip loosening slightly.

_"Pathetic. I offer you safety and this is how you repay me?"_

The vampire bent the blonde's head to the side slightly. Katsuya knew what was about to transpire and could do nothing to prevent it. Horrified, he watched the ebony haired head descend to his neck.

'No…'

Matthew sank his fangs unmercifully into the tender skin. The blonde let out a scream that could not be muffled by a gag, tears streaming down his cheeks. The pain was indescribable, every vein constricting, the rush of every cell towards his pierced artery. The room was starting to get hazy…

"POLICE! OPEN UP!"

* * *

Shizuka paced in her room, unable to leave. God, what was taking them so long! Matthew was in there with Katsuya, she just knew it! Oh god, oh god, oh god-what would Matthew do to him? Sure, Seto had only mentioned the man in passing, but he sounded horrible! He pretty much spat the man's name alone! 

A loud scream echoed through her door.

"Oh god…" She began to cry uncontrollably, sobs wracking her still form. "Please…" she choked, her voice cracking, "Someone…"

"POLICE! OPEN UP!"

* * *

Matthew pulled his fangs from the other and looked up, growling dangerously. 

"_I should have just killed the fucking child!"_

Katsuya fought to remain conscious in the vampire's grasp, and for a moment he wondered, is this how Seto felt before he died?

A loud crash sounded throughout the apartment. "IS ANYONE HERE?" A muffled reply came not long after from the room next door. "In the second bedroom! Please hurry!"

Mathew cursed. _"I was just going to kill you, but now I think I'll let you suffer."_

Two dull thuds came from either side of the door. "This is the police, we want you to come out,"

In a perfect imitation of Jounnouchi Katsuya's voice he answered the men.

"Officers, everything is fine. I'm sorry for the false alarm, my sister's schizophrenic. We had this happen a few times back home,"

Katsuya used what little strength he had left to once again struggle against the vampire's hold. Matthew's hand slipped slightly, he used that slight space to open his mouth and bite down on the juncture between his captor's thumb and forefinger.

_"Arrgghh! You little shit!"_

Jou only clenched his jaw tighter, blood from the wound running freely into and down the sides of his mouth.

"Were coming in!"

The men on the other side began to pound on the wooden panel. The vampire heard a slight crack as the frame started to give way.

_"Fuck."_

Matthew may have been immortal, but a stake through the heart would kill him. Getting a bullet in the heart wouldn't kill him, but it would hurt like a bitch. And those kinds of wounds don't heal in an hour.

He let the blonde fall to the floor in a heap, his breathing shallow and ragged. He wouldn't survive. Matthew watched as the small wound on his hand healed, leaving only a small impression that would disappear in a few moments.

_"As much as I would like to stay and prolong your suffering, I can't."_

Matthew Ravencroft turned away from Katsuya, and seemingly disappeared.

The door splintered open with a loud _crack!_ Three police officers and two paramedics rushed through the it, only to be met with the sight of a boxer-clad blond teen, pale as a ghost, lying motionlessly with blood slowly pooling around his neck.

"Katsuya!"

* * *

Seto leapt from roof-top to roof-top, flying the longer distances. He had to hurry, god knows what Matthew was doing to Katsuya. He was getting closer… 

As much as he disliked it, he couldn't come from the roof or the balcony, Matthew could be waiting for him. He would have to go on foot from here. Seto hit the ground running, he quickly folded his wings against him and sprinted through the crowd. Much to his horror, a police officer stopped him in his tracks, not fifteen feet from the Jou's building.

"Son, I need you to slow down and try to find an alternate route,"

Seto stared blankly at the man.

_"Why? What's going-"_

The brunet froze, gaze falling onto the stationary ambulance parked before the doors.

'_Oh gods…please don't let it be…'_

A few minutes later, two paramedics rolled out a gurney. And on that gurney, was a large black bag.

* * *

Peace out homeslice. 


	24. Stage TwentyThree: Rectification

**

* * *

Show Me How It Ends**

**-Stage Twenty-Three:** **Rectification-

* * *

**

No one made a sound as the crowd parted fluidly, letting the strangers pass through their ranks with ease. Yugi Mouto walked beside Ryou Bakura, Anzu Mazaki, Mai Kujaku, Marik Ishtar, Ishizu Ishtar, and even Maxamillion Pegasus. Each of who was there to offer their support to Shizuka and her father. Mokuba was next to the grieving girl, holding her hand comfortingly. While Mr. Jounnouchi gazed at the rapidly filling grave before him, the look in his eyes revealing that his pain was beyond the point of tears.

It had been three days since the death of Jounnouchi Katsuya. Seto had disappeared, and the police investigation had revealed nothing. But that didn't mean anything to Shizuka. The minute her father rushed home from his firm, only to be met with the sight of a CSI team going through his son's bedroom, she spilled her guts. She told the elder Jounnouchi everything she knew about Seto and Matthew, how her brother had been telling the truth all along. Mokuba had joined her shortly and backed up her confession with his own. The night was spent shedding tears. Mr. Jounnouchi had asked Mokuba to try and get a hold of his brother, but to no avail. Seto was gone.

It was a beautiful ceremony, not even the rain gently descending on them could take away that comfort. The sermon made Shizuka want to smile instead of cry, but she could not bring herself to forget what had happened. Yugi and the others came and paid their respects to their fallen friend. It was obvious that loosing both Seto and Katsuya in the same month was weighing heavily on their hearts. Mokuba made a silent agreement with the young Jounnouchi, they would not tell the others what had transpired. They did not need to know the circumstances in which Jou died, nor did they need to know that Seto was still in this world. Somewhere…

A light hand came to rest on Shizuka's shoulder, causing the girl to jump slightly. She turned around only to meet a pair of icy-blue eyes tinged with crimson. Seto Kaiba stood before her, his face gaunt and hollow. Making him look infinitely older that his now eternal seventeen. She scowled inwardly. Now he actually looked as if he was one of the living dead.

"_Shizuka…"_ He whispered softly, voice heavy with guilt, shame darkening his eyes.

Mokuba came from behind the girl, and was taken aback by the sight that met his gaze. Never before had he seen his brother look so defeated…so lifeless…so dead…

"_I promised you…" _he said brokenly. _"I promised you and I failed…"_

The pre-teen forced her gaze the ground beneath her feet. She couldn't stand those eyes. At first she had hated the vampire for letting anything happen to her older brother. But…this was like some kind of twisted love story. Each had lost the other in a matter of moments. Neither one knowing of the others true feelings. But Seto came back, selling his soul to be with Katsuya. And her brother still loved him, even with what he had become. But this story wouldn't have a happy ending. Matthew came and tore the two apart once more. They could not be together in life…and they would never be together in death. Shizuka choked back sob and thrust herself into the vampire's arms.

Seto tensed noticeably, then relaxed slightly and hesitantly brought his arms up to hold her gently. Mokuba walked up next to his brother and managed to slip his arms around the brunet's thin waist. Seto moved so both his brother and Shizuka were in his grasp. Mokuba shivered slightly. His brother was cold as ice. The elder Kaiba unfurled his wings and wrapped them around the two, shielding them from the rain he thought was the reason for their discomfort.

"Seto Kaiba?"

The vampire released the children and turned swiftly to meet Shizuka's father.

"_Mr. Jounnouchi." _He said quietly. Tentatively meeting the man's amber eyes. Something inside of him broke. His eyes were the same as Katsuya's…

What he found in the elder's tawny deeps could not have been less expected. There was sadness…pain and…what looked like gratitude? Why…?

"Mr. Kaiba, I have heard a lot about your current state from Mokuba and Shizuka. I know you cared for my son very much, as he did you."

_"Sir, I failed your son. I was unable to protect him-"_

The man held up a steady hand, silencing the teen abruptly.

"I do not blame you for what has happened, I actually wanted…to give you my thanks."

Seto was speechless.

"For saving my son back in Domino." He paused before continuing, as if trying to find the right words. "I don't and may never know why Hiroto did what he did. I can only imagine that you might know-" the brunet shook his head silently "-but, as I suspected, you were just an unfortunate casualty."

Seto tried to open his mouth to speak, but was once again silenced.

"You could not have done anything Seto. As much as you may blame yourself, there was no way you could have known about this, or protected Katsuya from it. I hold no ill will towards you, I would actually prefer it if you thought of us as family. But I do ask one thing of you Seto Kaiba."

The vampire waited, shocked to say the least, but still, he stood patiently.

"Hunt down the bastard who did this. That little stunt you pulled down in the alley next to our apartment turned a lot of heads. It was, in fact, the reason I had to leave last night. I want to see that same quality of manslaughter on Matthew Ravencroft. I'm sure you don't need any motivation to tear him limb from limb?"

Seto's eyes grew a dark crimson.

_"I assure you, he will die for what he has done. I need no motivation to disembowel the murderer of my beloved."_

The elder Jounnouchi held out his hand, which Seto took without hesitation.

"We are in agreement then."

_"Yes…"_

* * *

Shizuka and Mokuba listened to the conversation with bated breath. Shizuka had never heard her father sound so…disturbing. Mokuba looked at the girl questioningly.

"Did they just…?"

She looked back at the black haired boy, her eyes relaying a look of slight confusion.

"I think my dad just asked your brother to kill Matthew."

They both walked cautiously back over to Seto and Shizuka's father.

"Daddy?" she asked quietly.

"Seto?" Mokuba said just after her.

Questioning amber eyes turned to the young girl. "What is it Shizuka?"

She bit her lip gently. "What…what do we do now?"

The man turned his gaze onto the black granite headstone,

_Jounnouchi Katsuya _

_1988-2005_

_Beloved Son, Brother, and Duelist_

"_May you now find the peace that you were denied in life."_

"We say goodbye."

Seto walked to his brother and enveloped the boy in his arms.

"_Mokie," _he whispered softly _"I'm going to leave again."_

The pre-teen tried to protest, but a hardened glare from his brother silenced him.

"_I have no idea when I will be coming back. Or even if I will be coming back. The point is, I don't want you to follow me, come looking for me, or anything else if I don't return. If that is the case, it will be best that you just forget me." _Seto pulled back and stared hard into his brother's eyes. _"I love you, and don't do anything stupid while I'm gone." _Pausing a moment, he added, _"That goes for you too Shizuka."_

Seto rose to his feet and seemingly glided to the headstone. He traced his fingers gently over the Red-Eyes Black Dragon carved into the stone.

_"God…Katsuya…I never meant for any of this…I am so sorry my love…"_

He clenched his eyes shut, but not before a few ruby tears made their way down his cheeks.

_"I promise you Matthew will pay…"_

He turned and walked swiftly through the cemetery. There was an abrupt flash of lightning, and Seto was gone.

* * *

Mokuba watched as Yugi Mouto ran up to him, panting slightly.

"Mokuba, did you see…?"

The boy quickly feigned confusion.

"See what Yugi?"

The spiky haired duelist shook his head lightly. "I..I could have sworn that I saw Seto. I guess that with everything that's happened…just…never mind, I'm sorry Mokuba." He walked back to where Mai and Ryou were standing silently. Mokuba watched the group get into a black limo, which most likely belonged to Pegasus, and drive away.

"Mokuba?"

He heard his name and turned to Shizuka.

"Would you…maybe…like to stay with us tonight?"

The boy nodded mutely.

"If you want me to."

Mr. Jounnouchi came up to the two.

"We would love to have you stay with us Mokuba."

Shizuka gave a small smile and grabbed Mokuba's hand to pull him to their car.

The elder Jounnouchi followed a ways behind his daughter. He stopped once more and looked back at his only son's grave. And just for a moment, he got the feeling that something wasn't right. He resumed walking to his car, where Shizuka and Mokuba were already waiting. Then he heard something that made him freeze. But in a heartbeat, the sound was gone. Once again, he forced himself to move.

He gently pulled open the driver's side door, but paused as he heard the sound again. He quickly got in and started the car, driving out of the cemetery as fast as he could without breaking an laws.

"Daddy? What's wrong?"

Mr. Jounnouchi gazed into the rear view mirror and met the mage of his daughter.

"It's nothing, I was just thinking."

But it wasn't nothing. It would turn into something that would haunt the man for the rest of his days. No matter how much he wanted to forget it, the sound wouldn't leave his thoughts.

Because he could have sworn that he heard Katsuya screaming.

* * *

_This is not the end._

_Please review._


	25. Final Stage: Deification

Crimson orbs gazed down at the city below. It had been weeks since…

Seto closed his eyes painfully. How could he have let this happen?

One thing was clear in his blood-hazed mind.

Someone was going to pay.

* * *

**Show Me How It Ends**

**Final Stage: Deification

* * *

**

The brunet stalked across the skyscraper's ledge, claws digging into the stucco, leaving deep gouges. Matthew was here…waiting for him.

The vampire doubled over in pain, convulsions wracking his slim corpse. This couldn't be happening…not again… he held out his hand, staring at the blackened talons that extended from his fingers before his vision began to blur. His mouth opened in a silent scream, canines extending and sharpening. Black encroached the whites of his eyes, leaving jagged red irises and reptilian like slitted pupils. His skin sprouted small flat spikes that fanned down his forearms like armor, the uncovered skin on his chest, arms, and back slowly turning a dark ash. His wings flexed and shifted, as if not accustom to their own weight.

If he could have died, he would have. This was nothing to live for. Katsuya was dead. Hell, _he _was dead. A throaty growl crawled its way out of Seto's throat, slowly crescendoing into a haunting roar. He clenched his fists, talons digging into his palms only to bring forth chilled, coagulated blood. There was only one thing that justified his current state, and it was the same thing that had damned him for eternity. Killing Matthew had evolved from an act of revenge to an act of redemption. Somehow, the Elder's death would rectify all of Seto's actions which had gone awry. It would at least make the pain go away…

Seto glanced over the ledge; cars were gridlocked in the streets below, their headlights glistening much in the same manner of the stars twinkling above.

"_I need to see Katsuya."

* * *

_

Mokuba sat with Shizuka as they watched the news. It had been a week since Shizuka's father had signed the papers and legalized the boy's adoption. Of course, Mokuba had opted to keep the Kaiba name, for legal purposes.

The black haired boy glanced out the window, smiling softly as he spotted a form darting across the roof of the building adjacent to his new home. Shimmering black wings glinted in the moonlight as the figure soon disappeared from sight.

Seto was still here. If not with Mokuba in self, he always seemed to be close. A billowing coat in the wind, a shadow out of the corner of his eye. His life may not have been ideal, but at least Seto was still alive…in a sense…He walked the earth a corpse, but he was still able to feel. And now, not only was Seto medically deceased, but with Katsuya…Seto was dying on the inside as well.

Mokuba turned to Shizuka, bringing his arms up to hug her. Shizuka and her father were his family now, as much as it pained him to admit it.

* * *

Jounouchi Rei leaned over his bathroom sink, splashing water onto his tired features. The clear liquid diluting the tears that had escaped his amber eyes. He placed his hands on either side of him, steadying his trembling form. 

In just two months, he had lost a son, but he gained another. Mokuba Kaiba. The brother of Seto Kaiba. Katsuya's crush turned lover. The one who would inadvertently lead to his son's death.

He ripped open the cabinet and grabbed a bottle of anti-depressants. Shaking two into his hand, he stared back at his reflection while he swallowed the pills without water. Maybe he would go visit Katsuya after work tomorrow. Maybe.

* * *

Shizuka stared at the television indifferently; she shifted the sleeping boy beside her so his head was resting on her shoulder. She reached for the remote and clicked off the only source of sound in the room. The soft tick of a hidden clock seemed as if to scream at the girl. 

It screamed at her incompetence, her failures, even her insolence seemed to be under strict scrutiny. The constant ticking…relentlessly whispering that if she had just been a few seconds earlier, her brother would be the one holding her now. Not her holding Mokuba.

Mokuba Kaiba.

Kaiba.

Seto.

She laughed. Cold and mirthless. Oh sweet irony.

* * *

Seto walked almost silently through the graveyard, his feet crushing the crisp fall foliage lying strewn across the grass. His claws gently trailed across innumerable headstones, clicking against bronze, scraping marble, and chipping granite. It was an obscure path to an even obscurer grave. 

Seto knelt before a black headstone, a lone testament to his lost beloved. He raised a hand to stroke the spine of the dark dragon that guarded to one resting beneath him.

"_Katsuya…we should have had more time…please forgive me for what I've done to you…"_

There was a mourning silence, soon interrupted by a repetitive, mocking clap. Seto shot up and twisted around, glaring in the direction of the sound.

A shadowed figure sat placidly on the upper branches of an oak tree not far from him, still clapping. Slowly…sardonically…

"_I am touched. Really, I am. Even after the mortal's death, you insist on acting as if your world has ended."_

"_It has thanks to you." _He ground out, voice shakingin rage.

Matthew leapt down from the branch, landing squarely on his feet. He exuded a cat-like grace and stood almost lazily.

"_You had promise."_ He said sadly. "_But you still continue to hold on to your silly morals." _He let out a haughty laugh _"What am I saying? You're Seto Kaiba."_ He lowered his voice; ebony eyes peering out from equally black bangs. _"You have no morals."_

Matthew lashed out at Seto suddenly. The vampires fist connecting with his fledgling's jaw. The brunet fell back against Katsuya's headstone with a sickening crack . His spiked wings chipped away at the inscription and broke off the stone dragon. The figure fell to the concrete base and shattered.

Seto remained in that position for a moment, shaken from the blow. Matthew approached the brunet, leering scornfully as he leaned down to seize the teen's throat, pinning the CEO to the headstone. Seto gasped as his sire's grip tightened, nails digging into soft, ash-colored flesh. Matthew held up his other hand, nails lengthening into the all to familiar claws Seto himself possessed.

"_I created you," _he spat. _"And I can just as easily destroy you."_

Razor sharp talons descended quickly towards the brunet's face. Seto jerked out of the man's hold a millisecond before his claws made contact, instead splintering the stone behind him; the granite crumbling into chunks of serrated rock. Seto rolled to the side, just enough time for Matthew to pin him once again.

"_Why prolong your fate? You are going to die."_

Seto smirked wryly as he reached out, grasping a piece of jagged granite. Shifting ever so quickly, he thrust the stone into Matthew's chest viciously.

"_Have you forgotten Matt? I already am dead."_

The man's shocked gasp was answer enough for Seto. The brunet rolled out from beneath him. Matthew fell to ground, struggling to move, let alone fight back.

"_This is for turning me into some kind of freak."_

Seto tore away the vampire's shirt and clawed at the hole the makeshift spike had created. Matthew cried out in what sounded like a combination of pain and fury.

"_This is for my brother and Shizuka."_

The brunet tore away the skin over Matthew's ribs and dug his claws into the organ housed beneath them, twisting his hand sharply. The vampire gurgled, hand outstretched to Seto in an indistinguishable movement, before he fell limp and simply turned to dust.

"_And that…that was for Katsuya."_

Seto shakily rose to his feet, feeling utterly exhausted. He raised a hand to his head and clutched his forehead lightly. The brunet brought up his other hand, which was covered in blood. Seto smiled darkly before sucking gleefully on each of the digits, cleaning them of the forbidden ambrosia. He looked around at the damage to his lover's grave, as well as the graves surrounding it.

"Mmm…Katsuya…we need to clean this up don't we?" He laughed drunkenly and walked away from the grave, singing softly to himself. 

"_Show me how it ends alright,  
__Show me how defenseless you really are,  
__Satisfy the emptiness inside,  
__Well that's alright,  
__Let's give this another try…"

* * *

_

"…_Se…to…"

* * *

_

It is over. Oh my god…I love you all and I'll try to get out the first chapter of the sequel soon! Thank you soooooo much for sticking with me this far! Until next time!

-Daughter of Anubis


	26. Author's Note

This is a note that the sequel is up for all of you. It's under 'Upon My End Shall I Begin' you can find it in my profile.

-Daughter of Anubis


End file.
